The Princess and the Pirate
by Bubblegum370
Summary: She was an unloved, nontraditional princess, and he was a caring, brave, and skilled pirate. Neither would have guessed that they both needed what the other had to offer. Ace X OC. Warning: Characters may be OOC
1. Chapter 1

**I'll be straight up, I looked at the fanfiction and read the ones about Ace. I guess I just felt like he deserved more love. He was an amazing character so this is going to be his love story with an OC. Yes I know OC stories aren't everyone's favorite thing but sometimes the real characters just don't match up well… I'd love to hear your comments questions and concerns.**

**Warnings: This fanfiction will contain language, gore, and most likely smut just because I like it ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece just my OCs and the idea**

**Chapter 1**

The youngest of the five princesses sat swinging her legs off a chair where her feet couldn't reach the ground. She absolutely _loathed_ parties. She was far too young to do anything exciting at them. While everyone else could dance and eat she could do neither. Of course she could ask a servant or something to fetch her food but that had no meaning. If she couldn't do it herself she wouldn't ask someone to do it for her.

That was why everyone else in the castle though she was weird. Never had she asked for anything. Maybe it was because of all the praise she got from her father for doing things on her own. The attention she got from father was certainly why her sisters and mother hated her. Why else would she have to wear this hideous pink dress and do nothing on her seventh birthday?

"Princess Cassondra," a voice said. She turned her chocolate eyes up to a mysterious man. He was dressed in an overly fancy suit like everyone else at the part but he still had his top hat on. It was tipped over his eyes.

"Who are you?" she asked. Her doe like eyes tried to find his. All she could see was the friendly smile plastered on her lips.

"I'm actually a relative of yours," he answered. "That's why I brought you this."

He pulled out a sort of fruit with colors swirling all around its round shape. Cassondra stared curiously at it wondering what it was.

"This fruit is more delectable than candy," he informed. "I brought it a long way just for you. Won't you eat it for me?"

She thought about telling the man to buzz off but couldn't. She would surely be scolded for being so rude not to accept his request.

She took the fruit and slowly bit into it. He was right it did taste better than candy. However she couldn't see straight anymore as everything started to go black. She fell out of the chair and her people yelling. She vaguely wondered what for.

**10 Years Later**

"Princess Cassondra would you please hold still," the maid asked as she fumbled with the strings to her day gown.

"I have been telling you for years Claire you should call me Cassie," she replied. "You shouldn't even bother with the dress I'm going out right now anyway."

"Princess please don't do this today is a very important day," Claire pleaded. "You're engagement will be announced. Besides your mother would have a heart attack if she knew what you do outside of the castle."

"Oh please let that happen," Cassie muttered. "Then I could finally laugh at that old bitch."

"Princess your language!" Clair said appalled. "Just please don't do this."

"Too bad so sad," Cassie said as Claire finished lacing up the gown.

Cassie snarled at herself in the mirror. It resembled the dress she had worn on her seventh birthday. It was pink and pooled to the ground after proofing out. It had bows all over it that were just like the one that held her dark chocolate curly hair in its elegant ponytail. She grunted walking over to the window.

"Now remember Claire for this to work you can only report me missing in five minutes," Cassie reminded. She grabbed a small black bag by the window sill. "I'll see you later tonight."

With that she jumped out of the window. She heard Claire yell her name but she ignored it as she ran towards the castle walls after landing perfectly.

Oo00oO

Cassie cursed as she turned into the alley way in her pink dress. It was painfully obvious who she was. The castle guards had located her almost immediately.

Without delay she rid herself of the horrid thing and began changing. She pulled on a tight black tank top with matching shorts and a jacket. She strapped the black gun holder to her thy below her shorts. Then cursed.

She had forgotten her black boots. Now she was stuck with these frilly pink bow shoes. She truly hated her family. Ever since her father died she may as well be all alone in the world. At least Claire wasn't bad, but she didn't exactly support her.

Cassie undid the stupid bow holding her hair together and walked out of the alley. No one would ever suspect her of being a princess she was wearing clothes that were far too indecent and revealing for that. She was dressed like the run of the mill pirate. Just like a pirate would she headed to the nearest pub for some fun.

Oo00oO

Ace strolled idly around a small island that Whitebeard's ship had set anchor on. Apparently it was so small that it didn't have the marines on it. That was always a plus for a pirate.

However the town was buzzing to prepare for a birthday party for the fifth princess. Not that it really mattered to him he was a pirate and wasn't invited. He heard the speakers that paved the street switch on.

_"Attention please attention! Princess Cassondra has once again escaped! I mean... err gone missing. Anyone able to locate her will be given an award! All men on standby are to immediately search. That is all."_

Ace chuckled at the thought or a rebel princess it was quite amusing to think that anyone would escape from a castle; especially one with thirty foot walls.

Oo00oO

"Cassie I didn't think you would come," Jack said. His untamed red hair was in the way of one of his sterling silver eyes as usual. "Actually the whole island is looking for you."

"Well they should try harder then," Cassie said. She took a seat next to him at the bar. "You know with all the medical advancements you think they would find a cure for stupidity."

"Well my princess they call that poison," Jack said laughing. He remembered the first time he had met the princess. He had stumbled upon her changing in an alley. It was safe to say that his nose didn't heal for a few months after.

"Tch whatever," Cassie replied. "What are we doing today?"

"Well, me and my crew are going to loot off of Whitebeard's ship but I have no idea what you're doing," Jack said downing his glass of whisky before Cassie could take a sip.

"You need to take some poison because that is the stupidest idea you have ever had," Cassie said. Her eyes narrowed at him while he just smirked at her. "Going after Whitebeard is basically committing suicide."

"Does that mean you're in?" Jack teased.

"Of course I mean with the both of us at least some people will survive." Jack frowned slightly. As long as he had known her Cassie had never been afraid and he still couldn't scare her.

"You know you shouldn't go it's pretty dangerous," Jack informed. "You might not make it back to that fancy party they are throwing you."

"That's great then I won't have to meet my husband to be," Cassie said standing up. "Come on what are you waiting for."

He heard the clunk of her shoes and looked down. He couldn't stop himself from laughing. Cassie growled and sent a glare at him.

Oo00oO

Ace was in his bedroom lying idly on his bed. He had been completely bored after he saw all that the little island had to offer. A good portion of Whitebeard's crew had gone drinking but he had chosen to stay behind with the remaining members. It's not like much could happen here.

He closed his eyes slowly drifting to sleep. Maybe something good would happen later.

Oo00oO

"So does everyone understand the plan?" Jack asked his crew. He heard their agreement and glanced at Cassie. He concluded she looked too excited; she probably needed to get out more.

As the rest of the crew headed to prepare for the surprise attack Jack grabbed Cassie by the arm and turned her to face him.

"Remember you stay by me at all times," Jack ordered. She nodded her head.

"I know," Cassie said. "If I die there is no hope for this island to remain sane with its messed up monarch women. Although you know very well I'm capable of handling myself.

"How could I not when you remind me every few minutes." He ruffled her hair. "It's good that you're around to keep me in check princess."

"Whatever," she muttered before getting into position.

Jack gave the signal and she watched the other members secure ropes onto the deck. She could already hear the crew reacting. Jack gave her a nod and she leapt onto the rope landing perfectly. She raced up it like she was a professional tight rope walker. Jack was right behind her.

She looked for the magical bored that could be lowered down to let the rest of the crew; however she was already defending herself against the sea of men that came at her. She pulled took out her gun.

"Elli Elli berry wind shot!" she called. A bullet made entirely from air shot out and cut the ropes holding it up. The wooden draw ramp lowered to the ground. Jack's crew raced up eagerly joining the battle.

Ten minutes later she was back to back with Jack completely surrounded. Jack's men had retreated like he had told him to. They didn't get the luxury since they had been taking most of the heat anyway.

"Jack you're an idiot," Cassie said. "I hate you."

"No you definitely love me," he said laughing.

"Just what made you wake up and think 'I'm going to get myself killed today'?" Cassie asked.

"Well honestly I waited until I heard Whitebeard left the ship to attack," he said with a smile. "Turns out they're still strong."

"So you're not only stupid but a coward," Cassie muttered. "I need to get better friends."

"Who are you kidding Princess? I'm your only friend. Let's use one of our famous combos."

"Oh my god, you totally got us in this situation just to use it. You asshole!" Cassie exclaimed with a playful smile. "Which one do you want to use?"

"Hmm the one with water would be pretty fun. Even though we didn't get anything it will leave his ship trashed."

"And get us electrocuted. Pick again smartass."

"Fine Fine. How about we propel ourselves off using fire? That should be safe and logical enough."

"Sounds cool to me." Cassie held her gun at the ready as she climbed onto Jack's back.

"You mean it sounds hot," Jack said. Cassie rolled her eyes she just knew he had winked.

"Get on with it already," Cassie complained. He laughed before becoming serious.

"Shock Shock jolter!" Jack practically whispered. Electricity flowed through his boots as he jumped.

"Elli Elli fire shot!" Cassie yelled not being discrete about it.

Fire poured from her gun lighting the ship ablaze as it pushed them further into the air along with Jack's electrical current. Her shoe slipped from her feet unnoticed.

It took about forty-five seconds before they landed securely on the dock watching the ship burn and the crew systematically put out the fire.

"You know now that we damaged their ship they will have more time to hunt you down," Cassie said with a glance towards Jack.

"It's whatever," Jack said with a smirk. "Well my Princess I'm afraid it is time for me to depart once again. I hope you have an enchanting night at your party. I also hope I have made your birthday enjoyable."

"My birthday has always been more of a tragedy than a celebration," Cassie said. "However seeing you ultimately fail has made it a little better. I will see you when I see you."

Jack watched as Cassie more than likely started walking back to the palace. He felt bad for her having to live there; it didn't suit her. Cassie was wild, sarcastic, and not proper in the least. Yet she was forced to be tamed, polite, and lady like since a young age. Jack knew a day would come when she would just snap.

It was a day worth looking forward to.

Oo00oO

"What the hell happened here?" Ace asked. He had awoken to the smell of burning wood and discovered it was Whitebeard's ship.

"A small group of pirates attacked us," a crew member said. "They weren't very strong except for two of them. They were devil fruit users."

"Why didn't you wake me," Ace said shaking the man by the shoulders.

"Sir you get cranky after your naps," one chimed in. "No one wanted to get burned again."

"I'm so dead," Ace muttered.

"You are, but not yet," an all too familiar voice said from behind him.

Ace turned around to see the captain of the ship, Whitebeard. He stood there strong and powerful, like he always did. Ace had already come to accept his position on Whitebeard's crew, but this wouldn't look good for him.

"I want you to find the culprits and pay for the damages," Whitebeard said after glaring at Ace a little. "Until the ship is fixed I'm afraid we won't be going anywhere."

Whitebeard walked off the deck and most likely to his chambers. The rest of the crew began to talk about what had happened.

Ace walked around the deck scanning the charred areas, some looked more like they had been electrocuted. He sighed until he noticed something out of place. It was a dainty pink shoe with gaudy bows on it. He picked it up and examined it. In the sole there was something that couldn't be mistaken.

It was a royal emblem. Ace just figured out the case of the missing princess.

Oo00oO

A loud smacking noise echoed through the room. The servants held back their pained expressions once again. This had become a routine thing exactly five years ago when the king had died. The youngest princess, the scandal child, was always punished severely.

Cassie clenched her fists in anger reminding herself she couldn't lash out at this woman. Her "mother" so to speak was the queen. It would be inappropriate conduct to wring her bony little neck.

The Queen Alice was beautiful with golden hair and pretty sky blue eyes. Cassie could see what her father saw in her but it hadn't been enough. Otherwise she wouldn't exist. He had to have seen something in her real mother though.

"You ungrateful child," Alice sneered. "How dare you sneak out of the castle? I have provided for you even though you are not my own. We have a very important guest coming for your birthday. Your husband to be, Prince Haru."

"What?" the eldest of her sisters Ashley asked. "Why would the most handsome prince want to marry her when there are all of us?"

Cassie rolled her eyes as her sisters all began to question each other and agree that she wasn't good enough for him. She also noticed how her mother wholeheartedly agreed with them.

"I want the wall raised another five feet," the queen ordered. "Cassondra I expect you to be dressed and ready for your party. Get on now and don't disappoint me."

Cassie turned around biting her tongue from delivering a sly insult before walking out of the room.

Oo00oO

"Princess do you hate it here?" Claire asked tightening the corset lace at the back of the new dress.

Cassie would admit she liked this dress better but not by much. The light pink color was to be expected. The corset top was boned and had crystals placed all over it. The skirt was so poofy out so much that it was almost like a table top that had crystals gathering and creating layers on the dress.

"I do hate it here," Cassie answered. "However I know that some people would prefer if I were not to leave the royal family, my father was one of those people."

"Oh I see…" Claire said softly. She felt sorry for the princess she was different from of the rest of the family, but Claire though she was different in a good way. "You are completely ready. Your entrance to the ballroom will be soon."

Cassie excited her chamber and began the descent down the stairs. They just had to stick her in the highest tower out of the way of _everything_. However they had yet to figure that was why escaping from the castle was so easy. Cassie would never tell them that though.

Cassie paused at the entrance to the ballroom. She could hear the orchestra playing a song she didn't care about and the chatter of the hierarchy of the island plus other invited guests.

"Princess Cassondra Hart has arrived," a page announced.

The ballroom was silent as was expected as Cassie slowly walked to the grand chair she was only allowed to sit on this day of the year. No one would clap for her like the other princesses it would earn the bad grace of the queen.

Cassie sat down and watched as the ballroom once again filled with good natured laughter and small talk which she couldn't participate in. She noticed a familiar face walking towards her.

He was different than usual more put together. His red hair was usually untamed but was now neatly slicked back and he wore a suit.

"Jack, how did you get in here?" Cassie asked. He looked at her and smiled.

"I see why you can escape so easily," Jack commented. "The security in this place sucks. Getting in here was easy. If you weren't you I would afraid you would be assassinated."

"Nice to see you're concerned," Cassie said. "You can stay but I don't want you to close to me right now. I'm a princess if you're discovered you can say good bye to that head of yours."

"Easy there," Jack said. "I'll go enjoy the free food and women then. It's too bad you aren't one of them." He left before Cassie could say anything back about his comment.

Cassie noticed one of her sisters walking towards her. of course she was dressed in a gorgeous pale yellow form fitting gown. Her name was Alayna she would admit she was the sister that didn't bug her as much as the others.

"Cassondra," Alayna spoke. "I want you to get married to this prince. He can take you away from here. It is not because you're an eyesore but you could be happy without mother. That would be what father would want the most your happiness." Cassie managed to smile at the woman before she walked away from her.

"Prince Haru is now entering," a page yelled.

Cassie wasn't watching for the prince as much as she watched the people before her. They had all gone silent, but it was different from when they had gone silent for her. If she had to guess what it was for than it was out of fear?

Cassie finally took a look at the man. She had to stop the shiver that climbed her back as she looked at him. He was strong and it was as if she could smell the blood on his hands. He was at least a warrior who most likely hadn't lost a single battle. Not only that but he was strikingly handsome

He had eyes as dark as night with pale skin and shiny silver hair that framed his face perfectly. His body was covered in black and red armor but she could tell that it was lean with muscles. He had broad shoulders which only severed to add to his strong presence.

When he reached her he bowed on one knee before her taking her hand.

"Princess Cassondra I greet you," he spoke deeply. He kissed her hand before releasing it. "I have brought you a gift, that I believe suits you."

He pulled a black satin box from a place Cassie didn't know existed. He opened it and revealed a sparkling necklace. It had tears of diamonds that were accented by large rubies. It was beautiful but something Cassie would never think of wearing.

"Thank you Prince Haru," Cassie said in the sweetest voice she could manage.

"Anything for my wife to be," he replied suavely. "Would you care for a dance?"

Cassie didn't have to turn around to see that the queen and her sisters were glaring heavily at her.

"I'd love to," Cassie answered. She didn't care if the others were relieved or absolutely furious, she just wanted something to do.

They began dancing to the music. It was a basic waltz Cassie could accomplish it easily and so could Prince Haru.

"So Prince Haru…" Cassie started.

"For you its Haru," he corrected. Cassie sighed before meeting his eyes.

"Haru then," Cassie said slightly annoyed. She could tell he picked up on it by the smirk on his face. "Why do you want to marry me?"

"That power you have is very much in my interest," Haru replied. Cassie looked at him shocked. "Ah don't seem so surprised. I have been keeping tabs on you since you were around ten. I know everything."

"Is that so?" Cassie arced an eyebrow at him.

"Yes it is." Haru had an almost deadly look on his face. "I want you to stop going out of the castle or I will tell your mother what you do."

"Enlighten me," Cassie taunted. "How would you know what I do?"

"I have informants everywhere," Haru replied. "Like right now I know you're little friend is in this room. I wonder if his blood would be as red as his hair."

Her body stiffened at his words. He did know. That was shocking. Why would he know? Why would he care?

"You will not hurt him," Cassie ordered. Her chocolate eyes were beaming with passion and Haru couldn't hold back a deep chuckle.

"I want to make a request that you wear red," he mused massaging the small of her back. He ignored the warning noise that sounded from her mouth. "It would suit your much more passionate side. I hate submissive women."

"Really that's great," Cassie said sarcastically. "I just hate you."

Oo00oO

Ace had snuck into the ballroom fairly easily dressed in finer clothes than usual. He had even bothered to put a shirt on. He was also surprised that it was obvious who the shoe belonged to.

The fifth princess could only be the girl in the enormous pink ball gown. She was currently dancing with who assumed to be her fiancé. She didn't look happy at all.

She looked angry as if she wanted to murder the prince on the spot. As soon as the dance ended they both bowed to one another keeping up the formal act.

That's when Ace made his move before she could sit down. He had practically darted to the other side of the room to catch her.

"Princess," he said as he grabbed her wrist. She turned around obviously shocked at his actions. He released her wrist immediately realizing he shouldn't have done that. "I was wondering if you would like to dance."

Cassie eyed him curiously wondering why this man was breaking the almost unspoken code that was not to engage her in any other way. Then again if he was like Prince Haru and could kill all of them she would understand his daring nature.

"I would be pleased to do so," Cassie answered. She held out her hand hesitantly before he took hers.

To her surprise he was smiling. Maybe grinning was a better way to describe it. Cassie noticed that his suit was a bit cheaper than everyone else's and his shoes weren't shoes, but rather boots. He also had on an informal necklace. His hair was slightly messy and greasy but she thought it added to his charm, as did the little freckles across his face.

They began swaying to the music and Cassie let out a giggle before smiling at the guy.

"You're not rich or a noble are you?" Cassie finally said. She could tell he wasn't very comfortable dancing, or very confident either. He smirked at her.

"You're right I'm not," he said. "What gave it away?"

"Hmm I would have to say when you asked me to dance," Cassie answered. "What's your name? I'm…"

"Princess Cassondra," he completed. "You can call me Ace."

"In that case you can call me Cassie," she said. She was surprised how comfortable she felt with this man. Maybe she got a sense of superiority since she knew he was below him. "Now I have to ask what you want with me."

Ace was surprised at the firmer tone her voice had taken but tried not to show it on his face. He looked at the girl closer. Her chocolate eyes and hair, to her slim golden brown frame made her seem innocent. She didn't look like she could burn a ship.

"I need you to pay for damages to a ship you destroyed earlier today," Ace said. He watched a number of emotions run through her eyes before she smiled; he thought it seemed a bit sly.

"How could I, a princess, do damage to a ship?" Cassie questioned. Her eyes were filled to the brim with excitement; Ace didn't miss that detail either.

"How could a royal shoe end up on the ship that was damaged?" Ace said smartly. He watched as the girl sighed, before pouting.

"Well do you really need me to pay for Whitebeard's ship?" Cassie asked. Ace didn't bother masking his shocked expression.

This girl had attacked the ship of Whitebeard, and knew who she was attacking.

"Are you crazy?" Ace asked. She smiled up at him.

"I have two friends," Cassie explained. "One is an overly safe maid and the other is a complete dipshit. I was with the dipshit today."

"You probably shouldn't use that kind of language," Ace grumbled. "About the damage…"

"I got a gift to extravagant for my tastes today," Cassie cut in. "I'll give it to you to pawn at the next island to get supplies. It's about two miles southwest; I have swum to it before. It's a port island many merchants are there. Use a fake name in case you are to get caught otherwise things will get messy. I won't save you only claim you are a thief."

"You're merciless," Ace said looking down at her. A smirk met his blank look.

"If you live in this palace it is a necessity," Cassie said after a while. "My room is the highest tower I'm sure you can find it meet me there at midnight."

"Do you always invite strangers to your room?" Ace teased. She smiled lightly at him.

"Only the ones I find interesting," Cassie said. The song ended and she cast him a look. "I'd watch yourself if the rumors are true my fiancé has quite the temper and he doesn't look to happy right now."

Ace glanced at the prince and she was right. He didn't look happy, he seemed angry. Ace smiled sheepishly at the prince but was met with a scowl. He decided he'd leave now while he was ahead.

He turned to wave good bye to Cassie who just gave him a blank look. She wasn't used to people being so nice upon a first meeting. Ace was refreshing to her.

Oo00oO

_Well that is the first chapter. I know Ace was a little OOC but pretty soon you will get to see his redeeming qualities like how caring and responsible he is. Cassie seems a lot less hmm… snobby as her strong sense of justice is shown as well as her loyalty.__**Leave a review otherwise the next chapter probably won't be out for a long time!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning: This chapter will contain language**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, but I really want to…**

**Chapter 2**

"Oh so you made it," Cassie said as she watched Ace crawl through her window. He only smiled in return. Cassie wondered why he was smiling.

"I wouldn't miss it," he replied landing firmly on the ground. He took a look at her. He was surprised to see she still looked very much like a princess.

Her hair was up carelessly in a bun and yet it had a beautiful curl to it. She was dressed in a light pink night gown with bows on it. That went down to her knees. The neckline was modest but it still exposed her neck. He noted that it was a very nice neck.

"Is there something wrong?" Cassie asked. She smirked at the slight tinge of peek that covered his cheeks.

"Nothing," Ace replied. "Now about the necklace…"

"I have it right here." Cassie picked up the box and started walking towards him. "Trust me just this necklace will be enough. I could raise a family off of it."

"I doubt that no necklace could be that extravagant," Ace stated. Cassie noticed his happy tone. This man was surprisingly carefree for a member of Whitebeard's crew.

"Care to make a bet on it?" Cassie asked. Finally there was something for her to do.

"What am I betting on?" Ace asked. It sounded like a good idea to him. There probably wasn't much for her to do and there wasn't much for him to do, besides fixing the ship.

"I will meet you on Whitebeard's ship tomorrow and find out the cost of the damage," she stated. "After that we will go to the next island and check the value of the necklace. If it is equal or exceeds the cost of the damage you have to help me get out of my marriage."

"That's right you have a fiancé." Ace looked at her she seemed rather indifferent. "Can you even get out of your marriage?"

"No clue," Cassie answered honestly. "However that will be your job to find out. Geeze do you think I would ask for your help if I didn't need it."

"Actually you didn't really ask as much as manipulate," Ace commented. Cassie held back an insult. "What would be in it if I win?"

"You won't, but you can choose when if the time comes." Cassie placed her hand on the box. "Do you want to know what you just bet against?" Ace nodded his head.

The second she opened the box Ace knew he had lost. The necklace was sparkling even in the dim lighting of the room. The rubies were huge and perfectly cut; the diamonds were unclouded.

"How heavy is that thing?" Ace asked seriously. Cassie arced an eyebrow.

"Too heavy to wear on my neck," Cassie answered. She hadn't thought about it, but it really was heavy. Prince Haru must be an idiot.

"He must," Ace agreed. Cassie looked at him startled; she hadn't realized she said that out loud. "I wouldn't have chosen red; green would be a much better color on you."

"I'm sorry but if you haven't noticed I only wear pink," Cassie said.

"Why?"

"The queen chose to color code all of the princesses," Cassie said. "I just happened to get stuck with this wretched color."

"It doesn't look bad, but it makes you look like a child," Ace said scratching his chin in thought.

"I hope you realize I will never take fashion advice from a man who wears boots with a suit," Cassie sneered. He let out a happy laugh once again surprising Cassie.

"I'm a pirate you know," Ace reminded. "We don't exactly have fancy clothes lying around everywhere. The fact that I wore a suit was a great accomplishment."

"I feel pity for your wife if you ever get one," Cassie muttered. She let out a long yawn. "I'm going to sleep you should leave."

She was expecting an insult to be lodged from him or maybe just an annoyed growl. Ace however opted for a light hearted smile.

"Goodnight Cassie," was all he said before leaping out the window.

Cassie trudged over to the bed before crawling under the covers. She realized Ace was different. He didn't really see her above him like Jack did or below her like her family did. It was as if they were equal, or he could just be the first truly nice person she met.

Oo00oO

Cassie walked through the streets of her kingdom ignoring all the whistling and hooting of the drunkards that lined the street. They were annoying her, but she'd ignore it.

Right now her first priority was to reach Whitebeard's ship without attracting attention. She'd opted for a new look that most wouldn't recognize.

Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was wearing a short white and black ruffled dress that fell off her shoulders. She had on black leather boots that stopped just below her knees. Thinking about it now it probably wasn't a good idea since the she would probably be swimming to the next island.

She turned down the path to the port and spotted Whitebeard's ship. Actually it was pretty hard to miss. The damage wasn't obvious, but it was still there.

She tried walking onto the ship but was stopped by a man with yellowish orange hair that was slightly spiked into his eyes. He was giving her a look over deciding whether or not he should send her away.

"Who are you and what do you want?" he finally asked. Cassie stopped herself from rolling her eyes.

"I'm Cassie and I'm here to see Ace," she answered.

"He's not here right now," he said.

"Shove that bullshit back up your ass," Cassie deadpanned. She loved not having to use lady-like language. "I may not know the guy very well, but he seems like he would keep his promises."

"Still doesn't change the fact he's not here." Cassie narrowed her eyes at the annoying man before smirking.

"Do you want your ship fixed or not?" She had to hold back laughter from the slightly surprised look he gave her.

As he opened his mouth to speak Cassie moved swiftly around him and onto the deck.

"Hey Ace I'm here!" Cassie yelled. She grabbed the attention of most of the crew members. She could tell that some recognized her while others didn't.

"That's her, the one who helped burn the ship," one yelled. "Get her!"

"Cassie is that you?" Ace says from another level of the ship. He gracefully leaps down to her level. "You're earlier than I expected." The men stopped their advances.

"Do I seem like the type of person to be late?" Cassie said crossing her arms.

"Quite frankly yes," Ace said with a grin. Cassie sighed; it seemed this man would never stop smiling.

"Let's go it will take a while to get there," Cassie said. "I got a boat to borrow from one of my friends."

"Wait just a minute," a voice said from behind them. "This is the one who wrecked my ship?"

"If you don't believe it I could mess it up again…" Cassie muttered.

"That's quite unnecessary," it replied.

Cassie turned around to see a burly man with a white mustache staring down at her. She knew who he must be, but something was bothering her.

"You're like a false advertisement," Cassie said without blinking. "There's no beard just a mustache."

The man let out a hardy laugh at that statement, but Ace could tell it was slightly forced.

"So do you mind telling me just how a lady like yourself destroyed my ship?" Whitebeard asked.

"Simple I have a devil fruit," Cassie answered. "A powerful one at that."

"That so?" he replied. "Why don't you tell me all about it?"

"I'd prefer not to," she answered. Ace sweat dropped at the conversation before him. He realized Cassie was blunt, but one should never push Whitebeard too far.

"So how's life?" Whitebeard asked.

"A living nightmare," Cassie answered truthfully. "My stepmom's a real bitch."

"Let me put it this way," he tried again. "If you like living we're going to talk about this in my office."

"Whatever you say grandpa," Cassie said following behind them.

Ace looked at both of them walking away. He couldn't tell if the two of them got along or not. How weird.

OO00OO

"I will cut straight to the chase," Whitebeard said. "What devil fruit do you have?"

"Well aren't you blunt," Cassie mumbled. Ace thought she couldn't really accuse him of that. "It's called the element element fruit. I shorten it to Elli Elli. It allows me to control the four basic elements; water, wind, fire, earth."

"Impossible," Ace stated. "You should only be able to control one of those if any."

Cassie's eyebrows shot up at his tone. It turns out that the man does have a serious side. She'd have to take not about it.

"You're absolutely right," Cassie replied. "I _should_ only be able to control one. The devil fruit I ate was a result of someone who crossbred different ones together in an act to kill me. They almost succeeded. I was in bed for at least three months after I ate it. It was a lot of power, and nearly destroyed my body."

"Does that mean you are sickly?" Ace asked. Cassie looked at him, her eyes narrowed at the concern written across his face.

"Not at all," she answered confidently. "If I use too much power I can die, which is why I channel it through my gun. Is that a good enough explanation for you?"

"Sorry I just had to make sure my Ace wasn't getting into unnecessary trouble," Whitebeard said with a grin.

"I wasn't aware Ace was gay," Cassie commented with a smirk. Both of them started laughing leaving Ace to just look at them. He wondered if they bonded.

OO00OO

"Are you sure you're okay walking around like that?" Ace asked Cassie.

Her clothes were currently soaked through from the waves that had crashed against the overly small boat. It had exposed most of her body for all eyes to see. Cassie seemed not to care as she merely wrung her hair out. She gave him a sideways glance.

"I'm fine," she replied. "Most people have a general idea what the female body looks like."

"Yes, but aren't you a little too young to be showing it off," Ace said. Cassie noticed he was acting like a brother. He must have come from a close family she concluded.

"I'm seventeen," Cassie snapped. "I'm completely old enough to decide what I want to do with my life. You cannot talk about dressing inappropriately considering you're shirtless. How old are you?"

"Nineteen," Ace answered. "Girls are different than boys."

"Was your first clue that I have boobies and you don't?" Cassie asked sarcastically.

"If I said yes what would you do?" Ace watched as Cassie's cheeks puffed out in annoyed fashion before she sighed in defeat. He couldn't help the grin that crossed his face.

"Anyway let's get going," Cassie started, "I have to get back before they realize I'm gone."

"Of course Cassie," he said. She tensed unnoticeably at the use of her name; she had never expected him to use it so lightly if at all.

"I know there's a pawn shop if we go to the center of town," she explained. "We should be able to get a fair price from him. Believe me when I say the guy is loaded."

"Who would ever doubt you?" Ace joked.

"Smart people," Cassie replied with a smirk.

The two began walking into town. Cassie would usually attempt to start a conversation, but Ace was far too busy taking in his surroundings. He seemed to think everything was odd. It could very well be, but Cassie wouldn't know this was the only Island she has ever visited besides her own.

The streets were crowded venders of various shapes, sizes, colors, genders, and possibly species. Items large and small cluttered the shops and stands. Ace had never seen something quite as chaotic, but organized.

"Someone stop him!" a woman yelled.

Ace and Cassie saw a stick thin man with a pointed nose running towards them. In his hand he held a purse. Before Ace could react Cassie had already leaped into action.

Cassie sent a bone crushing kick to the man's jaw. The man hadn't even seen it coming. He fell to the ground releasing the purse in the air. Cassie caught it effortlessly.

The woman approached her Ace was expecting her to thank Cassie and take the purse back, but he was wrong. A slap was heard as the woman slapped her quickly reclaiming her purse. A scowl was obvious on the woman's face.

"Pirate whore how dare you!" she yelled. "I'd rather have it be stolen than saved by you!"

"I wouldn't have saved it if I knew you were the owner Mrs. White," Cassie said. "That man was probably taking the money you swindled from him."

"How many times have I told you?" she sneered. "Your kind are not welcome on this island."

"You're the only one who says that," Cassie answered. "You still let your son on the island so I figure I'm still allowed."

"Don't you dare talk about him like that! He's different from you!"

"Well I have to go," Cassie said as Ace started walking towards them. "Good day _mother_."

Ace and Cassie walked away ignoring the yelling from behind them. Ace noticed how the bounce in her step had disappeared, and how her head hanged a bit lower.

"Who was that?" he asked her finally.

"Mrs. White," Cassie answered. "She's my friend Jack's mother. She seems to be under the impression that I'm Jack's whore. If anything he's my personal bitch."

"Really?" Ace said with a chuckle. She didn't seem like it at first, but she was still pretty immature. "Why did you just stand there and take that? I mean you don't seem like you would usually do that."

"'If you strike out against the evil in the world like they strike out against you, then who is the true evil?'" Cassie quoted. "My father used to tell me that when I was younger. He also told me to never ever eat food from strangers again."

Ace was pleasantly surprised at the giant smile that was on her face. He could tell she loved her father.

"We're here," she said opening a door to a large shop.

All Ace could see was mountains of expensive junk. It littered the pathway making it hard for him to walk through, but Cassie navigated through it effortlessly. She had obviously done this before.

"Yo Clark! Where are you?" Cassie yelled.

"I'm by the front desk!" a voice called out.

When Cassie and Ace approached the front desk a boy not that much older than Cassie was behind it. He had long spiky brown hair that framed his equally brown eyes.

"Cassie it's good to see hiiii!" he said hiding. "Cassie run there is someone dangerous behind you."

"Huh?" she said with an annoyed tone. "In case you haven't realized this yet I'm pretty dangerous myself."

"No it's… a m-member of Whitebeard's c-crew," he stuttered.

"Yeah he is, but he's more like a teddy bear," Cassie said smiling. Clark gave her a disbelieving look knowing exactly who the man was standing behind her. "I need to get a price on a necklace. I need to make sure I can pay for the damage to Whitebeard's ship."

"You did what?" he yelled standing up from behind the counter.

"It was Jack's idea…" she mumbled.

"If Jack told you to shoot yourself would you do it?"

"What type of gun is it?"

"You're puppy like loyalty is unbelievable," Clark finished. "Show me the necklace."

Cassie pulled the box out of her corset top and ignored the disgusted look Clark made. The second she opened it Clark was whining again. Accusing her of stealing things. It was obvious to Ace that Clark didn't know who she truly was.

"Trust me this baby is all mine," Cassie drawled. "So will it pay for the damages?"

"Yeah no doubt about it," Clark mumbled examining it. "Cassie does this necklace mean someone is courting you?"

"I don't court," Cassie stated. "I'm a single independent woman and proud to be one."

"All right then," Clark whispered. "I'll keep this here until your friend comes back to pick it up?"

"Not friend lackey," Cassie pointed out. Ace chuckled at her new nickname for her. "See you when I see you Clark!"

Cassie exited the building with Ace starting to walk beside her.

"A friend of yours I'm guessing?" Ace asked.

"You could say that," Cassie mused. "Truth is I knew his father first. That shop was one of the first places Jack took me. His father passed away about a year after mine so it was pretty easy for us to relate to each other."

"I'm surprised you didn't insult him," Ace said.

"Let screaming cowards scream," Cassie stated with a small smile. "Now if I were you I would stop figuring out how to get me out of my marriage."

"Do I really have to…?"

"Yes," Cassie interjected. "It was a part of our bet, honor it. If you manage to figure a way out of it, I will be eternally grateful."

OO00OO

"Mother did you hear that we have pirates here?" Ashley said.

Cassie scoffed. Pirates were always here. Her sister sure was an idiot. She opted to keep her mouth shut like usual during their dinner. It was odd that only her mother and Ashley were present, usually this meal included her whole family.

"I apologize for being late," a familiar deep voice.

Cassie groaned inwardly as she realized what was going on. Prince Haru was still here. This was obviously her stepmother's clever idea to get him to wed someone that wasn't her.

He sat down opposite from Cassie looking every bit as regal as he did yesterday. He made an attempt at a smile, but Cassie could see sinister intentions behind it. Something about Prince Haru made her feel uncomfortable.

"Prince Haru," Cassie said. "Stop gawking at me it's annoying."

"Cassondra!" her stepmom yelled. "Apologize to him this instant." Cassie sent a glare towards her not making any move to apologize. "This is what I meant. My daughter has yet to learn her manors. That's why I wanted to suggest choosing another like Ashley. She is the same age and by far more of a lady."

Cassie found herself agreeing with her stepmother. Ashley was very lady like and pretty. However she was spoiled and selfish. Cassie thought she and Prince Haru would make a perfect match.

"No it must be Cassondra," Prince Haru said. His tone was dark and rather frightening. "We both know that she is very _special_. She can be an asset for my kingdom, your other daughters cannot."

"That's for sure," Cassie said under her breath. "I have to agree with my mother. Ashley is much more suited for you in every way imaginable."

"Silence!" Prince Haru yelled. The three of them didn't dare to speak a word for a while.

Cassie met his eyes after a few minutes. They held a strong defiance that he wasn't used to seeing.

"I will never marry you," Cassie stated her tone was smooth and firm. "I will hate you for wanting to control me. I will without a doubt kill myself before loving you."

With that Cassie stormed out of the room. That brought a smile to Prince Haru's face. He thought it was cute that she still thought she could disobey him. This moment had been planned ever since he first laid eyes on her almost ten years ago. He had been thirteen at the time he decided she would be the one.

OO00OO

"All we have to do is start transporting the supplies to repair the ship," Ace reported to Whitebeard.

"Is it really that simple?" Whitebeard asked sounding bored. "Where's that girl?"

"I'm guessing at her house," Ace replied. "She has to sleep too."

"She was interesting," Whitebeard thought aloud. "She'd make a great pirate if she wasn't so reckless."

"She didn't seem that reckless to me," Ace replied. "She could probably be trained. I'm almost positive she wouldn't mind leaving this island."

"No she is the most dangerous kind of reckless Ace," Whitebeard corrected. "She's the kind that doesn't care what happens to her own life. Those type people continue to stun me every time I meet one."

"I think you might be wrong," Ace said. "She may be self destructive, but I think she has a goal that she wants to accomplish. She won't die until it's done."

"So you see a bit of yourself in her." Ace gave the pirate a surprised look. He hadn't really thought about it, but they were a little bit similar.

"I guess, but we're still completely different."

"What was your first clue? She had boobies and you didn't?"

Ace couldn't help the burst of laughter that followed his captains statement.

OO00OO

**I know it's been a while, right? I feel really bad about updating so late. I have been very busy with school. (Ap American History Sucks) I also refuse to write useless stuff that doesn't have a purpose to the story, or that will be uninteresting. No one likes to read stuff like that. I wasn't taking longer because I wanted more reviews, or anything like that. **

** I'm also probably making the characters OOC so I apologize for that, a lot. I have a break this week so hopefully I can get the third chapter up before I have to go back to school. I would love more reviews, they always give me inspiration. I also posted a picture of Cassie as the image for this story. **_**Thanks for reading**_**!**

**Thank You:**

**angelrider13 **

**Oakley**

**Shiningheart of ThunderClan **

**And my two guests for your reviews!**

**3**


	3. Chapter 3

**Warnings: chapter will contain language, violence, and alcohol**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

**Quick apology for Ace's personality up to this point. I went and rewatched some things so hopefully it's better this time around.**

**Chapter 3**

"Princess Cassondra you need to wake up," Claire said lightly shaking the sleeping princess. She hadn't been out late so Claire wondered why she was so tired. "It's almost noon and you have an appointment to keep."

"Cancel it," Cassie murmured rolling away from Claire. She was exhausted mostly mentally from trying to figure out a way out of her marriage.

"I can't do that," Claire answered. "You're supposed to have lunch and make wedding arrangements with Prince Haru."

"Cancel it," Cassie replied. "Then tell him to fuck off."

"You don't have to wear pink today," Claire tempted.

She got the desired reaction when Cassie bolted up out of bed. She could see a ghost of smile across her face. Claire had been with Cassie since the princess was young so she knew Cassie had been waiting a very long time for this. She'd leave out the fact Prince Haru had selected the dress for now.

Claire led Cassie to the dress. Cassie had to stop from gawking at it. It wasn't at all what she was used to. It was an elegant form fitting dress with dark embroidery and long sleeves that weren't at all puffy. It hugged her hips and pooled to the floor without being enormous. It was so refreshing to her she couldn't even begin to describe it.

"Now that you're dressed I have to get you to the garden," Claire said.

She groaned she forgot. The whole reason why she had been avoiding getting up. Her life. She hated it, and she hated Prince Haru.

OO00OO

"Let's get started with the wedding arrangements shall we," the wedding planner urged.

"If I said you're fired would you leave?" Cassie asked.

"No," she answered nervously. "Prince Haru employs me. I can only leave when he tells me to."

"I had a feeling that was it," Cassie muttered. She took a sip from her tea cup.

She started to ignore the conversation between the planner and the Prince. It was none of her concern. She would have to wait until Ace upheld his part of the bargain. He'd better work fast too. The wedding was in two months.

"Now as for the location did either of you have anything in mind?" the planner asked.

"Yes my Kingdom's island would be most suitable," Prince Haru replied.

"No it will be held here," Cassie spoke up for the first time. "It would provide income for most of our almost ignored business owners. I refuse to have it anywhere else." She added mentally that she wouldn't be able to escape from the Prince's island.

"Well… umm." The planner looked from Cassie to see the Prince smirking.

"It's quite all right with me _darling_," Prince Haru spoke in a velvety tone.

"I just ate lunch don't make me gag," Cassie retorted.

"I'm just happy that you finally gave an opinion," Prince Haru said. He leaned closer to Cassie who tilted away from him.

"You have known that my opinion was not to marry you," Cassie stated. "My kingdom should at least get something out of this marriage."

"I believe that you're family is receiving a large sum of money for our marriage."

"That's my family not my kingdom." Cassie sent him a glare that made shivers run through the wedding planner's body. "In case you haven't notice there are people outside the castle walls too."

"I have, but I choose to ignore them." Before Cassie could shout out insults the wedding planner asked if she could be excused for the day. Prince Haru told her it was all right.

"I will only tell you this once," Prince Haru said. Cassie chose to keep her gaze harsh even though his was frightening. "Stop thinking for yourself. You are mine, and you follow my orders."

"I am no such thing," Cassie protested.

She stood to storm away, but her arm was painfully gripped and pulled back. Her chocolate eyes met his obsidian ones. She wanted to scream. He was so scary. She couldn't think of words to describe how she felt. It was as if her mind wasn't functioning.

"You are," he commanded. "I so far have allowed you more freedom than necessary. You still have some companions, but they will disappear if you keep this up. Fix your attitude."

"I will as soon as you fix your ego." Cassie didn't know where that came from, but she instantly regretted it when his hand tightened around her arm. She winced in pain.

"I will do everything in my power to force you to submit. I will make you dependent on me completely. That dress you're wearing is just the start."

"I must say you have excellent taste in woman's clothing. Should I be concerned?"

This time he didn't bother replying with words. He captured Cassie's mouth in a rough kiss, if it could be called that. Although she kept her mouth shut like it was her life's sole purpose, but Prince Haru was relentless in his force. Once he decided he didn't like the reaction he began to nip at her lips. He growled at her steel like lips, and bit down _hard_. Hard enough that Cassie yelped in pain granting his tongue access. Along with that the taste of her blood flowed in with it.

Cassie felt disgusted. It was disgusting that this was happening here in one of her favorite places. It was the one place where her, and her father had spent time together. Now it was soiled because of him.

Finally after what felt like ages Prince Haru released her lips.

"When real men pick out clothes for women they have every intention of ripping them off her body," Prince Haru said before leaving.

Cassie looked at him stunned. She knew he would be bad, but forcing things on her was crossing the line. Oh she so wasn't staying in this wretched castle the whole day.

OO00OO

Cassie walked into the pub with her Pirate disguise in full. She was wearing a long sleeved puffy peach blouse with a black corset fitted around her waist, and form fitting black pants. She made sure that she was wearing appropriate black boots when she left the castle.

Jack looked over surprised to see her walking towards him. Usually Cassie would somehow notify him if she was coming out of the castle. He hadn't heard from her since the party.

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked as she took a seat on the stool next to him.

"I needed space," Cassie said. "That bastard is invading my personal space."

Jack looked at Cassie closer. Her eyebrows were furrowed and a deep frown was set on her face. Her entire body seemed tense. She was angry, really angry. Usually Cassie got annoyed easily, but rarely did she get angry. He also noticed the cut on her lip.

"Hey Princess what happened to your lip?" Jack asked turning her head towards him. Her first response was to grab his glass of rum and down the rest of it. "Easy now, you're still a light weight."

"That ass-wipe fucking happened," Cassie answered. Jack had to hold back a laugh at her already slurring words. She was just so adorable.

"And what did Prince Haru do to you sweety?" he said stroking her cheek.

"He robbed me of my first kiss!" Cassie exclaimed. "It was rough and not gentle. I should send him to hell!"

Jack removed his hand from her face with a frown on his face. Prince Haru sure worked fast. Although Jack had a feeling this would happen sooner or later. He imagined it would be later.

"You should just calm down," Jack cooed. "I'll get you a light drink and then you'll go home and rest."

Much to Jack's displeasure she downed it immediately. She was ranting about whatever came to her mind first. She hadn't reached the breaking point, she wasn't drunk. He intended to keep it that way, because when Cassie gets drunk it isn't a very pretty sight.

"What brings a little missy like you here?" a dirty old man asked Cassie. Jack smacked his hand to his forehead; she wasn't sober enough to ignore that.

"Stealing geezer's drinks," Cassie replied before chugging whatever the man was drinking.

This wasn't good Cassie had reached the breaking point. Cassie didn't get flirty, or giggling when she was drunk. No she had to become a violent and abusive drunk. Jack prayed that she would never have kids if she enjoyed drinking.

"Bitch you better pay for that," he yelled at her. Cassie only stuck out her tongue at him.

"You don't deserve the money for that," Cassie proclaimed. "Consider it payment for me not kicking your wrinkly ass into next week."

Jack noticed the group of men that had come to stand behind him.

"I'll pay for the drink and we'll be on our way," Jack said trying to coax Cassie into leaving.

"You need to handle your women better," he said accepting the money.

"Oh shit," Jack breathed.

Before anyone could say anything Cassie had leaped off the bar landing a perfectly formed kick. Words for her at this point would be hard, but she has amazing muscle memory.

"What the hell?" one asked moving towards Cassie.

Jack landed a quick blow to his nose pushing him back. The man clutched his nose looking up at Jack angered. He went to attack him back, but promptly got a bar stool in his face.

"Oh she's lost it big time," Jack muttered.

He watched as Cassie stomped her foot onto the guys chest in triumph.

"No one is gonna touch my bitch," she slurred. She turned and round house kicked another man charging towards her. "I kick ass so bring it on."

Jack could only aid in the fight. He was defiantly going to have to find a new place to drink now. Just how the hell was he supposed to report this?

OO00OO

"That little girl sure did a number on our ship," Marco commented to Ace as they walked down the streets in town.

"Yeah I never really realized it myself," Ace agreed. "Although her ego seems to match her abilities, surprisingly." They both grinned at each other.

"You got to admit she's a bit of a beauty too," Marco said placing his arms behind his head.

"You think so?" Ace asked. Marco glanced at him out of the corners of his eyes, Ace was always slightly oblivious.

"You never noticed? She has a ways to develop yet, but I'm sure that in a few years she'll be a fully fledged jaw dropper. I personally like the innocent look in her eyes myself."

"That's a bit creepy…" Ace muttered. Marco shot him a fake glare, but he returned it with a happy grin.

Marco was about to retort, but a man flew out of a window before he could say anything. Both he and Ace could now hear the noisy pub. Someone had started a fight, an intense one at that.

"Do you think we should help the owner break it up?" Ace asked. Marco shrugged his shoulders and walked away without a glance in the other direction.

Ace dodged a flying cup as he opened the door to the pub. His eyes instantly flew towards a girl standing on the bar. Her hair was slightly messy and her steps seemed shaky. One of her sleeves was pulled down revealing a great deal of her shoulder and showing her gorgeous neck. Wait he knew that neck.

He watched as she pounced on an unsuspecting victim after giving a battle cry. She drove him to the ground easily. He noticed a man about his age was covering her back, but not too close to her.

"Hey Cassie what are you doing?" Ace asked running to her.

"Hey you, no don't!" the boy called. He was to late Ace had taken a round house kick to the face.

Ace had patience he always had. Especially with those younger than him. However that kick was the last straw.

"Cassie stop now," Ace commanded.

Cassie ceased her rapid battling and looked at him. Ace realized she was undoubtedly drunk. He could just see it in those chocolate eyes, but there was a tinge of sadness to them.

"Thank god Cassie you-"was all the boy got out before she kicked him in the head without looking backwards.

"Who the fuck do you think you are to order me around?" Cassie asked. Ace found it almost eerie how she had a scary look in her eyes. She was just daring him to do something.

"You're drunk this is ridiculous," Ace said. Sometimes he got annoyed with dealing with children. "Go home."

Ace soon realized that Cassie's intoxicated state didn't seem to slow her down as she lashed out and tried punched him. He noticed the falter in her movements as she started to pass out. He seamlessly caught her and placed her on his shoulder.

The fight was still raging on between some of the members, but most avoided him. Either they read the situation, or they knew who he was. As long as they didn't attack him Ace didn't care.

He walked over calmly to a man who was crouching behind the bar avoiding the various flying objects.

"I'll send this girl back to pay for her part of the damage," Ace told him. "For the most part she seems good for her word."

"O-okay," he answered.

"Shit…" Cassie muttered.

Ace could feel a hot liquid running down his back. He realized Cassie had just thrown up on him. This was one of the few times he wished he was wearing a shirt.

OO00OO

"I don't remember you and Marco having that when you left," Thatch said gesturing to the girl slung over Ace's shoulder. He let a sly smile cross his face. "What do you plan on doing with her passed out like that?"

"Letting her sleep off her drunken state," Ace replied. "Where are the girls?"

"They went to some place called Pleasure zone," Thatch answered. "I guess it's the female equivalent to a brothel," he explained at Ace's questioning look. "What's that smell?"

"Don't ask questions when you really don't want to know the answers?" Ace said moving past Thatch who just laughed.

Ace moved to his room. Thankfully he had gotten a better one since he first arrived on the ship it was bigger than usual. He walked over to his closet. He searched for anything that she would be able to wear. He came up with the large dress shirt he had worn to her birthday party.

Now there was only one thing left to do, and that was get it on her. Ace was no virgin, but he had no doubt in his mind she was. He could just see her violent reaction, or maybe her making a comment that struck down his pride. If it was Cassie no doubt it would happen.

Ace decided he'd just do it quickly. He moved to unlace the corset and found it was surprisingly easy to get her out of. Next was the peach shirt besides the initial struggle to get her out of the long sleeves it went well. He paused momentarily to stare at her chest.

It was covered in a peachy lace bra. It was unusually sexy for age. He noted that she probably shouldn't have it. Her size however wasn't anything to boast about.

He slipped the sleeves of the button down shirt around her arms and fastened the buttons all the way down. He took off her boots next. Then he reached inside it to find the waist of her pants and slowly dragged them down her legs. He told himself he didn't notice how silky smooth they were, or that he imagined the matching panties she surely had on.

He took a deep breath, and crinkled his nose. He still smelled like vomit. He need to bathe and badly. He took one more glance at Cassie's sleeping form before leaving.

OO00OO

Cassie woke up in an unfamiliar room. She didn't have to open her eyes to realize it wasn't her room, or even Jack's. She could tell that the bed was slightly firmer than any one she had ever slept on. Cassie could also hear waves crashing against whatever ship she was in. The salt in the air served to wake her up, it was sort of refreshing compared to the fake perfume that flooded the Castle's halls.

Cassie heard shuffling and decided to sit up. She opened her eyes and they widened in shock before she covered them with her hands.

"Ace why the hell are you naked?" she exclaimed. She turned around and buried herself in the covers. Her butt was high in the air when she felt a draft. She wasn't wearing pants; she was wearing a shirt that entirely wasn't her own. "Dear god why am I in this shirt? I thought I was blessed with the power to be asexual."

"Hey Cassie would you just calm down," Ace said calmly. He was smiling, but it was nervous. She turned to him a glint in her eyes she looked like she was about to kill him.

"I see," Cassie said changing to a bright and happy exterior. "You're the kind that preys on poor innocent women."

"The round house kick you sent to my face wasn't innocent," Ace countered. "Besides it's not like there's much to see." Ace wanted to mentally slap himself for that comment. It wasn't entirely true and it wouldn't be entirely welcomed.

"I see…" Cassie whispered thinking. "So I guess I drank too much and erupted into a morally deficient bar fight. In which I managed to wreck the property, and take out half the men including Jack who approached behind me to try and calm me down."

"So you remember all of it?" Ace asked amazed she could.

"No it's just that it has happened before," Cassie replied. His brow twitched a little at that comment. "Where are my clothes?"

"Right now being washed," Ace answered. "You actually let a lot out. You should never drink."

"Jack tells me the same thing," Cassie said rubbing her temples. "He says I get too damn violent. What time is it?"

"Last time I checked it was around a quarter after six," Ace said giving her curious look.

"Shit I have to go!" Cassie exclaimed. She grabbed her boots trying to lace them up as fast as possible.

"What's the rush?" Ace asked as he bent down to help her tie the other. He wasn't completely heartless to the girl.

"I'm late for dinner. Soon they'll come looking for me," she said hurriedly. "If they figure out I'm gone I'm screwed over. The walls will be raised higher the palace guards will be looking for me. It's just not pretty. Plus Prince Haru will…"

"Prince Haru will what?" Ace asked looking into her eyes. He saw that the chocolate depths held sadness to them as well as fear. For the first time he noticed the cut on her lip as the corners of her mouth turned down. "Does he hit you?" Ace grabbed her cheeks with both hands facing her towards him.

"Ace there was a reason why I wanted someone to get me out of this marriage," Cassie answered. "That's all you need to know. I'll see you when I see you."

Cassie rushed to the doors and paused before she looked back and smirked at him.

"While I might not have much to show," she started, "you certainly have a lot of fine _**ass**_ets."

She ran away before Ace could say anything in return. He knew he was blushing slightly, but that was more from shock than anything. He never would have guessed that princesses could have a perverted side to them.

OO00OO

Cassie hoped that when she entered the dining hall her family wouldn't pay attention to thin layer of sweat that covered her body. She had run all the way from Whitebeard's ship to her room. From there she had dressed herself in a pink dress that had cloth flowers around the edges of the skirt and neckline. No way was she wearing the dress from earlier.

"You're late," her stepmother stated. Cassie bit back an insult that would have been so easy to make. "Prince Haru is waiting out in the garden. The two of you will be eating dinner together from now on."

Cassie muttered a "polite" excuse to leave before continuing on to the garden. She saw him waiting at the table with food already displayed before him. No staff was present probably because he had sacred them all away. When he looked at her their death also became a possibility. He looked, well pissed would be the way to sugar coat it.

Cassie held her head up high not externally giving into her fear. Yes, her fight or flight instinct had kicked in. It was definitely the flight one this time.

"You're late," Prince Haru stated as Cassie sat down across from him.

"A princess is never late everyone else is just simply early," Cassie replied.

"I'd ask why, but I know you snuck out," Prince Haru said as he looked at her. She didn't physically tense or even show signs of being nervous. She was indeed a good liar. "I also know about the fight you got into. Please refrain from doing it again."

Cassie didn't as much as glance at him as she took her first bite of food. She would eat her food and excuse herself to leave. It would be a simple, but effective plan.

"Who was the man you left with?" Prince Haru asked firmly.

"It's not really any of your concern," Cassie answered. Her eyes were still not looking at his; if she was she might have caught the dangerous look the flashed in them. "We aren't married yet."

"Any man my fiancé associates with is my concern," Prince Haru sneered. "Tell me."

"I don't know who he was," Cassie replied coyly.

"You do. He called you by name. You knew him, and left with him. Even in that state of mind you're smart enough not to leave with a stranger. Who is he?"

"A figment of the human females' imagination bent on bringing happiness to the eyes of single women everywhere," she retorted. She took another bite of food, and glanced at the prince. She almost choked on her food. If looks could kill she'd be dead five times over.

"I guess you'll just have to start seeing the effects of your actions," Prince Haru replied after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

"Or maybe you could learn how to live with me for who I am?" Cassie suggested nervously.

"I'm not marrying you for your personality. I'm marrying you for all that you could gain for me. Remember that I have no personal attachment to you."

"And people say marriage is built off of communication, love, and trust. I'm fucking screwed," Cassie said under her breath.

OO00OO

"So you're trying to tell me that the cute little girl who destroyed the ship also started that bar fight?" Marco asked surprised. Thatch only laughed at that, the girl shouldn't keep surprising them like this.

"Yes apparently she's a violent drunk," Ace said taking a swing of his drink. "That's not what I'm worried about. I'm about to tell you two something that cannot be repeated."

"I thought you finally trusted us Ace," Thatch commented with a grin.

"Well Cassie is a princess in the castle," Ace said. Both men gave him a look that said to keep going. "We made a bet and if she won I had to help her get out of her engagement to some prince. Well she won, and originally I was just going to let things happen naturally, so maybe she would start to like the prince. Today she had a cut on her lip from him. I just want to get her out of that situation."

"I see so you're playing the good guy," Marco said rubbing his chin. "A bombshell pregnancy would fix that right up."

"Ignore him we'll talk to Dad tomorrow," Thatch said sighing.

Really the concern Ace was showing for this girl might just be a little too much.

OO00OO

**Look who has no life and finished this early! Haha well actually I was just really inspired to write about this once the idea popped into my head. Something about these characters makes me excited to write. Well I just wanted to say either you'll hear from me later this week, or not for a while. Don't worry I will not give up on this fanfiction. The OC is way to fun for that. **

_**Thanks for reading! Please leave me a review!**_

**Thank you to**

**angelrider13 **

**Sanzopriestess**

**For your reviews! I'm so happy you both liked it and didn't give up on me. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Warnings: This chapter will be darker and contain death. It's one of the low points that will be seen, but this is where the story really begins. Also the usual language and snarky comments**

**I rated it M for a reason**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own One Piece**

**Chapter 4**

Cassie woke up to loud knocking on her door. That was weird usually Claire just came in to wake her up.

"Come in," Cassie said.

She watched as a maid practically tore her door down to get into her room. She looked like a wreck.

"Princess Cassondra you have to come quick its Claire!"

OO00OO

"This island has public executions?" Ace asked as he walked with Marco down towards the town center.

"I guess so," he replied. "Some poor girl is being put on the chopping block for treason. I'm just surprised it wasn't that princess of yours being beheaded."

Ace gave him a look that told him he didn't find that comment funny. Marco just smiled at Ace's serious reaction. It was good to see that he could be serious, and not want to hurt someone. Marco still recalls the days when Ace was first brought on to the ship sometimes.

A loud bell broke them from their trains of thought. Soon the streets were filled with citizens all moving the same direction. Ace and Marco soon moved with the flow.

Once they got to the town center there was a raised plat form and a higher one above that. On that platform sat the queen and four of her daughters; purple, yellow, blue, orange.

Immediately Ace noticed Cassie's absence, but why? The next thing he noticed he was Prince Haru standing in front of them with solid black armor. He looked excited and almost pleased this was happening. His bloodlust was over flowing from his body.

"We have gathered here today to punish the one who has betrayed our youngest princess," Prince Haru called above the crowd.

Instantly they were talking about the princess, and how she was the most capable. The people certainly loved her.

"Her maid servant has failed to protect the princess and after her trial was found guilty," he continued. "We have held this execution as a way to show the public what happens when you disobey us, or hurt one of the royal family members. Bring her out!"

Boos and insults were launched at the frail girl who two guards brought out. She looked like battered innocence. She only seemed to be sad about this; not angry or furious like most would be. She was willingly giving up her life. She looked like she was dying for the royal family not committing treason against it.

"Begin!" Prince Haru called with a smirk. They set the girl so she was kneeling in front of him. She was sideways to the audience that ha come.

OO00OO

Cassie ran as fast as she could. She was almost there, she could hear the crowd. Her pink ball gown was lifted so she could run. Anyone who tried could see that she hadn't bothered herself with stockings and shoes. Right now the only thing important was Claire. Why would she be executed?

Cassie sped up once she could see the back of the royal platform. She heard Prince Haru yell to begin as she made it up.

She met Claire's eyes she only smiled lightly before closing them. All of Cassie's protests died on her lips as a blade was brought down on Claire's neck.

She wanted to scream, she wanted to do something. Just anything to save Claire who didn't deserve this fate. Cassie watched as the blood out poured from her neck and her head bounced to the ground. Her golden hair covered her face as it rolled from her body. Cassie could only stare from shock. All the sound around her had died out, she couldn't hear anything.

Cassie looked at Prince Haru who turned towards her with wide eyes. His smile looked kind, but it was deadly. A trap to fool everyone around him. He'd kill them all if it benefited him in any way.

As he took a step towards her she took one back, but froze when he was no longer smiling. He walked towards her now and Cassie felt the tears. She could no longer resist them. She covered her face with her hands and her knees gave out.

She fell into Prince Haru's arms feeling his cold armor against her skin.

"Do you see what happens when you disobey me?" he whispered to her. Cassie shakily nodded her head not looking up at him. Prince Haru began to walk back to the center where Claire's body was.

"Will you disobey me again?" he asked. Cassie stilled immediately in his arms. Her puffy brown eyes met his cold dark ones with a look of furiousness.

"I won't disobey you until the day I kill you," Cassie said firmly. She'd kill him for Claire. For the innocent lives he had taken out of this world for his own personal gain.

"Than I wonder how many will have to die before then my dear," he hissed in her ear.

OO00OO

Ace watched as the Prince carried Cassie to the center of the stage. She looked so broken, was she crying? Oh god should he do something? Wait the prince just whispered something to her. What could it be?

"Look your princess is weeping with happiness!" Prince Haru proclaimed. "I promise I will keep her safe as well as all of you."

With that he walked away with the princess still in his arms. Everyone around Ace was buzzing with excitement for the upcoming wedding. He stood there fists clenched trying to control his anger. He couldn't just go at him right now. No matter how much he wanted to.

He'd have to talk to Cassie tonight. He'd sneak in, and just form a plan. Any plan would work as long as it got her out of this. He hadn't seen someone so broken. When the Prince had held her it was like a devil kidnapping an angel.

"Ace we have to go," Marco said placing a hand on his shoulder.

Ace snapped back to reality quickly. He looked at his friend to see a mildly concerned expression on his face. Ace looked around him and noticed the town had gone back to the way it was. People walked through the streets no longer interested at the execution seen. No one even paid attention as the guards removed the body.

"Sorry I just," Ace muttered still distracted.

"It's all right," Marco said patting his shoulder. "I'm sure we'll all figure out something. Besides I have a feeling that everything will get taken care of don't worry."

OO00OO

"We would like to move the wedding up a month," Prince Haru told the planner. He watched as she scribbled down his request not daring to defy him. She glanced to the silent girl, and wondered if she was sick.

The former lively princess had a far off look in her eyes. Although her skin was dark it seemed pale, and her lips had a purple hue to them. Any movement she made was stiff and hesitant. The planner wondered if Prince Haru had noticed.

"Yes if that's what you want to do then we'll have to pick out a wedding dress soon," the planner offered hoping to cheer the girl up. Women always got excited at the thought of their wedding gowns it was a look of delight the woman never got tired of seeing in their eyes. However the princess just nodded, signaling she had heard the statement.

"Her mother said that pink must be incorporated in the dress somehow," Prince Haru said off handedly.

"Don't call her that!" Cassie yelled standing up. "She will never be mother just like you will never be my husband!"

A sudden wave of dizziness took her over. All she could make out was a concerned looking wedding planner, and an angry Prince Haru. Everything was going blurry and soon black crossed the edges of her vision. She was angry at herself as she passed out. Why the hell was she still here?

The wedding planner watched as she crumpled to the ground. She thought maybe Prince Haru would at least try and catch her because she was close to him. However he remained seated, and just glared at her form. After a few moments of silence he called someone to take her away.

It was safe to say the rest of the planning was a struggle to get through. The man was heartless.

OO00OO

It was around midnight when Ace finally crawled through Cassie's window, and into her large bedroom. At first all he heard was heavy pants, and he was instantly struck with nerves, but he realized that it was only him and her in the room.

He advanced to her bed and peered over her at the edge. He noticed a damp cloth over her forehead. Her features were flushed and a thin layer of sweat was over her body. She was ill. Ace was mad that it was Prince Haru who caused this, as if the guy wasn't doing enough.

Ace gently placed his hand on her forehead. She was burning up, and coming from him that was a lot. Her chocolate orbs fluttered open. She glanced at him, but instantly her eyes filled with tears, and she began to cry.

"Leave before he kills you too," Cassie breathed out. She was still panting. "I don't want it to be my fault. He'll kill you like he killed Claire! I could have stopped him, if I would have just listened. I could have yelled or shot my gun. Anything, but now she's gone and it's all my fault.

She was sobbing and Ace was slightly panicked. What was he supposed to do? He had dealt with his crying brother once or twice, but a crying girl was a completely new experience. What would he want someone to do?

He simply sat down on the bed and pulled her into a tight, but sweet embrace. Cassie just clenched at his bare shoulders out of pure instinct. She sobbed into his chest. Ace moved a hand soothingly up and down her back trying to calm her down. This wasn't good for her fever. The last thing he needed was her getting more ill.

"It's not your fault," he said quietly.

He waited until her sobbing stopped and her breathing evened out again. Soon she was sleeping in his arms. He shifted carefully to set her back down. He looked at her, really looked at her.

She was the picture of beauty and innocence. It was no wonder why everything went wrong for her. Even though her mouth could be harsh and cruel, maybe a bit dirty as well, but she still was just a trapped teenager. That's all she was and yet the world chose to punish her in some of the cruelest ways possible.

The only thing that could be worse than being all alone is being alone and still surrounded by uncaring people.

He brushed back a curl from her face and looked at her neck. It was so perfect it gave her a regal and feeling and held her head high. It was almost as if it controlled her pride.

"Jack is that you," a voice whispered entering the room. Ace was instantly startled and he rushed to window. "Wait! I'm not going to tell or anything!"

Ace turned and looked at the girl. He was stunned. Standing there in the door way with a damp cloth and a glass of water was one of Cassie's sisters. Her blonde her was in two braids and she wore a pale yellow night gown. Her eyes were as blue as the sea and they widened when they met his.

"You're not Jack…" she whispered. "Please sit down in one of the chairs. I would like to speak with you if I can."

Hesitantly Ace sat down in one of the chairs at the far side of the room away from the bed. He watched as the girl placed the glass of water down on the table next to the bed. She then took the damp cloth and wiped Cassie's face with it, before she folded it neatly and set it on top of her forehead. She looked concerned at her before retreating to a chair across from the one he sat on.

"Are you…" she hesitated," Cassie's lover?"

"No I'm just a friend," Ace replied. He felt a pang in his chest but shoes to ignore it as he continued. "I was concerned about her so I came to see her."

The older woman gave him a disbelieving smile. She turned and stared out the window that Ace had come through.

"Our father would be too," she said. "If you couldn't tell from the obvious difference Cassie isn't from my mother. She was the result of a love affair between my father and a pirate woman. I was just old enough to understand what was going on when it was happening. I think my mother went into denial and pushed everything on my spoiled sister Ashley."

Ace gave her a surprised look and she only smiled at him once again.

"You see I have no doubt in my mind my father liked my mother, but he loved Cassie's mother. I can only assume that's why he paid close attention to her. That caused my mom's regard for her daughters to slowly become distorted. There was either perfect or imperfect. She sees Ashley as perfect and Cassie as imperfect. The rest of us get lost in translation. She does not care what we do. I still remember my father when he was dying asking me to take care of Cassie. I was so jealous of her then, I didn't want to. Then I remember one of the maids dropping something in the hallway. My mother didn't hesitate to yell, and she just walked away. Cassie however came along and actually _helped_ the maid." She let out a quiet laugh before smiling. "I was in shock. It was like seeing a small demon child helping someone for the first time, but as time went on she never stopped helping others. Even when she went outside the palace walls."

"Yeah she rescued some lady's purse only to be slapped in the face," Ace blurted.

"She probably stayed completely calm right?" She let out a giggle. "There was a time when she could smile freely and cutely, but those times disappeared with my mother taking over after our father's death. So naturally when I heard about Prince Haru wanting to marry her I was all for it. I thought she could escape this kingdom and be happy. I just never expected him to be worse than my mother. He killed Claire. Until you showed up she had three people in the world Claire, Clark, and Jack. Taking one of those away must make her miserable. Claire's sister is my maid and she is taking her death better than Cassie. Claire has been with her a long time I'm sure Cassie will be sad for even longer."

Ace and her fell quiet as Cassie stirred in her bed, but she didn't wake up. The girl sighed in relief.

"I'm Princess Alayna," she finally introduced. "May I please have your name?"  
"My name is Ace," he offered. His eyes were still on Cassie observing any change.

"Well Ace I want you to save Cassie," Alayna mused. "I know you can do it, I'm positive."

"How can you be so sure when the last man you picked turned out to be a murdering tyrant?" Ace questioned.

"It's simply because she accepted you. She would not be around you if she hadn't. Something about you just makes me want to trust you. I think it's the determination in your eyes. The fact that I know you can do anything you want to without fail. Plus you would have to be the devil himself to be worse than Prince Haru."

"That's true," Ace agreed with a half heated grin. He looked into her smiling blue eyes.

"If you want you can kidnap her," Alayna suggested. "I could stall the guards until you get away."

"It's quite all right," Ace said getting up. "I have to go, but I can't make a promise to you that I would save her, because I already made one to Cassie to get her out of her marriage. Thanks for everything though."

Alayna watched the man as he leapt through the window. She glanced over at Cassie and smiled.

"That's quite the catch you got there," Alayna whispered to her sleeping form. "He has some very nice _**ass**_ets." She giggled quietly before leaving the room.

OO00OO

Ace wandered the streets of the merchant island that Cassie had taken him to before. He had now become an expert at weaving through the crowds of people that hustled through the streets. He had one last confirmation to do with Clark and then the ship would start being fully repaired. Surprisingly Whitebeard had been patient through this whole mess.

He entered through the door to Clark's store and made his way to the front desk. The boy wasn't too afraid of him now, but his nervousness always showed on his face.

"Ace are you here to look at the final numbers for the supplies?" Clark asked. He managed a weak, but genuine smile. Ace grinned back at him.

"I am," he confirmed.

"Let me just handle this one thing and we can get started." Clark turned around and picked up a piece of Jewelry.

It was a gold medallion and it had different patterns leading to a center emerald. The instant he saw it he was reminded of Cassie for some reason. Then his mind drifted to what she would look like in an emerald dress that fit along her body. It would half to be off the shoulders so it exposed her goddess like neck and framed her body shape.

"That necklace," Ace said. "How much is it?"

"Well it still needs to be priced after some research. A person found it off the coast of the island. I need to price it based off of history so it might take some time," Clark answered.

"Do you think you could let me know when you have a price?" Ace asked.

"Sure I can try and get the message to you somehow," he responded with a smile

Ace watched as he retreated to the back room. Sometimes he would wonder what the storage looked like, but considering how messy it was out here; it wouldn't be pretty.

"Okay I need you to sign here," Clark returned with a document in hand. "This will confirm all of the supplies needed and then the extra ones Whitebeard ordered. He said that if you asked not to tell you why so…"

"No it's fine," Ace scratching his head. "I guess even the old man has his secrets." He signed his name where Clark was currently pointing to. "Well I got to head out."

"Take care!" Clark called. "Tell Cassie I said to stop by!"

He certainly would tell her the next time he would see her, but she had to get better first.

OO00OO

Cassie stared out the window of her room. She had never been so thankful for simply being sane. Her fever had finally subsided after five days. Ever since she was young her fevers would be severe, she was used to it. However the circumstances which brought on the fever she wasn't.

She'd remember dreaming about her childhood with Claire. She had been much more timid than herself and would often apologize for no reason. Cassie couldn't help the pained smile that crossed her face. She would always remember Claire for the good person she was.

"You look the most beautiful when you smile."

Cassie snapped her head sending a murderous glare to Prince Haru. She didn't want to deal with him. Her fever had just gone down she didn't need a reason to raise it again.

"Is there something you need?" Cassie asked annoyed.

"Yes actually," Prince Haru mused. He strolled over and sat on the side of her bed making himself all too comfortable on it. "Do you want to your know your purpose in life?"

"I know it already," Cassie responded. "I was put on this world to satisfy myself and no one else. Whether I get that from running around butt naked chasing after a unicorn or simply drinking a cup of tea is my own business."

"You're wrong," Prince Haru said. "I remember your seventh birthday. I do you caused quite the scare." She didn't bother to turn to him again she just stared out the window. "Your purpose was to die, but you couldn't do that. You just had to live. My father wanted yours dead the loss of his precious youngest child would have caused his already horrible health to diminish. Thankfully he died eventually."

"There is no reason to say that," Cassie said. "My father was a good man even if he did have an affair. Unless you just wanted our land which is something utterly barbaric."

"I'm your barbarian then," he said moving closer to her. She still didn't move. "This island is in a very strategic place. It can get to anyone of my empire's allies or enemies. That old man refused an alliance with us."

"Did I mention my father was also a very smart man?" Cassie cut in.

"With your kingdom under my control we can rule over everything in the area," he whispered into her ear. Cassie ignored the shiver that threatened to run through her body. "Think of how big the area you'll rule over. You can be a wonderful queen. Beautiful, clever, and with that power of yours conquering others won't be a problem."

Cassie let out a laugh that was surprisingly bitter to the Prince. He looked at her like she was crazy until her eyes met his. She was fully sane, but she'd changed. She was darker than before, and it showed as her lips crept into a smile.

"If you ever want to have control over me," Cassie started, "you have a lot to learn. I'd sooner use my power to _kill_ you then to help you. I only use it when I want and no one else can make me use it. I have full control over it and I intend to keep it that way. Even if for some reason I become your queen I expect you to lead your own men into a blood bath not mine. Boundaries need to be set up if this is going to work. What's mine right now is mine, what's yours right now is yours."

"Even now you still have fight in you?" Prince Haru asked getting up. "What happened to following my orders?"

"I'm still following them," Cassie answered. "I'm just waiting for the right time to strike. When I strike it will be hard and merciless. I will not hesitate to destroy everything in my way of killing you. I'm not sure how I'm going to do it, but you can be sure that it will be _very_ painful. Get out so I can get dressed."

Cassie stood up from the bed looking up at him with a smirk.

"A lady does not change in the presence of men," she cooed. "I hope you understand we aren't married yet. Get out."

"As you wish my lovely fiancé," Prince Haru said. As she turned her back to him he grabbed her forcing her back. "Just remember who you're dealing that."

He brushed back her hair and placed a gentle kiss on her shoulder. Cassie stayed still until he left. If he could have seen her at the second it's quite possible he would have stopped his plan.

OO00OO

**Guess who got all her homework done, an A on her AP History test, and a chapter done! This girl! I'm so glad I got this out, because the next thing that's coming up is a little more romance ;) Specifically love triangle romance. I love this story and all the reviews I keep getting**

**Thank you to**

**Shiningheart of ThunderClan**

**Angelrider13**

**Caramel27**

**Sanzopriestess**

**Lady Syndra **

**RedneckChick **

**3Love All of You!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Warnings: This chapter contains language, mild violence, and sexual references.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

**Chapter 5**

"Guys stop slacking off and start working!" Ace yelled as he picked up a few boards of wood.

Right now Whitebeard's crew was repairing and updating the ship. Although Ace saw some of the crew slacking off most would be glad to just get off of this island. The crew members were growing bored of this small island, except for the females. Ace didn't know exactly why they wanted to stay longer.

"How long do you think this is going to take?" Ace asked Marco who was walking by.

"I don't know he responded," he responded. "If the women stop trying to sabotage us we could be gone in a week or two. If not who knows?"

Ace sighed at least he would have some time to think about getting Cassie out of here.

OO00OO

"Is Ace here?" Cassie asked a man with a goatee a different color than his hair. She felt that was weird, but honestly she had no room to judge.

"He is," the man replied smiling. Cassie waited for him to say something, but he only sat there showing an all-knowing smile.

"Can I speak to him?" Cassie asked.

"Sure thing princess," he replied.

"I take it Ace told you then," Cassie replied moving to walk on the deck.

"He did," he answered. "Are you mad at him for telling me?"

"If it had been a few months ago and he told you, you would possibly be beheaded." Cassie pushed back a piece of her bangs. "These days it seems like everyone knows."

"I see. Well if you ever need anything you can ask for me," the man said patting her back. "I'm Thatch. Ace is over there." Cassie's eyes followed to where he was pointing, and she gave the man a half smile.

"It was actually a pleasure to meet you," she said before walking towards Ace.

"Yo Ace are you busy?" Cassie asked him. He clearly was working on something, but she considered it a formality to ask. She could tell he needed a break by the thin layer of sweat that covered his back.

"Cassie what are you-" Ace paused in his question when he turned around to face her.

She was wearing a red cut off shirt revealing her slim waist, and shorts that were all too short sat lowly off of her hips. Not appropriate for a princess, not appropriate for her age. Her hair was pulled into a long braid that seemed to be flung over her left shoulder that left her beautiful neck exposed. The black boots she wore helped make her legs look impossibly long. Just what was she thinking?

"Cat got your tongue or was it my shorts?" Cassie asked crouching down to his level.

"You shouldn't walk around a pirate ship like that," Ace said. "Not all pirates have good intentions."

"Don't worry," Cassie chided. "I'd shoot them if they tried anything. Besides I had most of my clothes… _confiscated_."

"What do you mean?" Ace asked her.

"I get to do what I like for the most part now, but only under Prince Haru's rules." Cassie examined her nails as she continued. "He gets to pick everything I wear now except for my wedding dress. Which I won't be wearing, right?"

"Right," Ace confirmed as he stood up. She stood up as well.

"Want me to get you guys some help?" Cassie asked him. "We could hold the ones who did this responsible."

"Are you offering to help repair this ship," Ace asked surprised that she would do manual labor.

"No I was suggesting that we go and get Jack's crew," Cassie replied. "I'll supervise. That and I owe Jack an apology."

"I see," Ace said. "Then why are you here with me and not him?"

"Let's just say even I don't like going to the area where Jack works alone," Cassie mumbled. "It's very _squalid_…"

"I take it you want me to go with you." Ace scratched behind his head. He really shouldn't be leaving right now, but something about the way her eyes pleaded at him to go with her.

"Hey can you guys complete this stuff without me?" he asked the members of his section.

"Yes commander we can finish it," someone answered him.

"Thanks guys. I will be back soon" He turned to head off the ship with Cassie beside him.

"Did he just call you a commander?" Cassie asked.

"Yes, I'm division two commander," Ace stated. "I have been for a while now."

"You're a little young though," Cassie spoke in thought. "That means that you have to have something special about you. It's obviously not your good looks."

"I happen to have devil fruit powers like you," he replied nonchalantly.

He watched in amusement as her eyes widened in shock and they snapped to meet his. Her mouth was slightly agape in a rather childlike fashion as well, as she began to sputter.

"You're actually pretty cute when I think about it," Ace said without thinking. He had to keep his smile from widening when he saw a slight tinge of pink on her face.

OO00OO

"What the hell is this?" Ace said pointing to the gaudy sign that was lit up even at midday. _Pleasure Zone _seemed like an awfully inappropriate place.

"This is where Jack works," Cassie said although not happily. "This is why I brought you with me. It's not something someone could really brag about. I hate coming here without a guy. It makes me feel like a desperate slut. Don't even comment on my clothes."

Ace was about to, but he stopped himself from doing so. Cassie walked into the building like normally. She kept her head held high and with a refined grace that many women lacked when entering Pleasure Zone.

Ace followed behind her trying to block out the overly erotic and suggestive artwork hung on the walls. It was all sex and other acts he wouldn't even call sex. Cassie seemed to be ignoring it rather well.

"I'm here to see Jack," she said to the man behind the register. He had light brown hair and slightly tanned skin with blue eyes. Very attractive she would admit.+

"He's on his break right now," he replied a smirk tugged on his lips. "I could assist you in anyway necessary though."

"She's under aged," Ace said cutting him off. When his dark brown eyes met the man's deep blue ones.

"Than I guess she can consider it a free service," he leered. Cassie held back a scowl and let a slightly strained smile come across her face.

"I'm a friend here to visit Jack," Cassie explained. "In other words I'm not here to fuck anyone."

"Life has a funny way of changing your original intentions my dear," he stated with a seductive chuckle.

"Just tell him Cassie is here to see him before I castrate you very painfully," Cassie deadpanned. Her patience was gone.

"Now, now don't get hasty," he cooed. "I'm not to interrupt him at all."

"Alec I'd just give the girl what she wants. Otherwise she'll blow your head off," a redhead said from the stairs. "We can talk in my room Princess."

"All right Jack," she said facing him. She stuck her tongue out at Alec before moving to follow him.

"The things I'd like to teach that tongue to do," he said under his breath. He felt the intense glower that came from Ace before he left to follow Cassie.

Yep Alec would sure as hell pick better women to harass, that guy was rather scary.

OO00OO

"First off what are you wearing and who is that guy?" Jack said sitting on a couch.

Ace chose to take a seat while Cassie remained standing for whatever reason.

"What you don't like my new look?" Cassie asked.

"I'd prefer to see it privately rather than publicly princess," Jack teased. "You can't answer my question with a question."

"No I seriously can," Cassie said. "My philosophy tutor used to do it all the time. He said questions can always be an answer."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jack asked making a disbelieving face.

"Hell if I know," Cassie answered. "I said random crap and eventually passed, or did he just give up? I forget. Well anyway this is my fiancé's idea."

Ace caught how Jack's eyes became more serious, but didn't miss the flicker of surprise at the statement. He looked like he was thinking things over carefully before replying.

"Bitch meet my lackey," Cassie suddenly introduced. "His name is Ace and I dragged him here, because I feel extremely uncomfortable with your work place." Jack let out a laugh, but it seemed slightly forced. Then his eyes widened.

"Don't tell me you're _the_ Ace," Jack said pointing. Cassie looked at Ace confused. "As in the Ace with a bounty of 550,000,000?"

"That's me," Ace answered sheepishly. He scratched the back of his head and watched as both Jack and Cassie looked at him.

"Whatever the navy is smoking it must be really good," Cassie finally said. "This guy is about as harmless as daisy. So far he hasn't put me into any danger unlike you. By the way I'm sorry for knocking you out."

"Oh you remembered that?" Jack said a little embarrassed. "I know what you're like I should have been ready for that. I think the better question is how are you doing?"

It was obvious to both her and Ace that he was referring to Claire. Ace wondered if she could really talk about it. She had seemed so fragile and broken when he had talked to her.

"Well I'm not happy about it, but I'm okay with it," she answered looking down. "I had some pretty good comfort."

Jack didn't miss how Ace's body tensed, but then relaxed in a pleased way. Despite what Cassie thinks he is no fool. He is clever and tricky, as he should be for his job. It was all too obvious that something was between them even if they had yet to admit, or realize it.

"I'm glad to hear that," Jack said with a lop sided smile. Every girl, but Cassie would swoon at it. However she was immune to it had because she had known him for so long. "I have work, but I'd like a word with you in private Ace. Princess you can go by Alec downstairs, I'm sure if it's you he'll be halfway decent by the time you leave."

"Bye Jack," Cassie said annoyed. "It was great to see you too. Next time we can actually talk before you kick me out."

"I'm sure we will," Jack said with a touch of sadness in his voice. Neither Ace nor Cassie missed it. She gave him a curious look before leaving.

Ace watched as Jack's kind façade disappeared and turned into one of a pirate. He certainly looked daring enough to try to ransack Whitebeard's ship now. There was nothing nice about the man Ace realized. That part of him was reserved solely for Cassie.

"I need you to stop interfering with the princesses' life," Jack ordered. "If you stay in it things can only get harder for her."

"That's not really your decision to make," Ace said matching his seriousness. "Cassie's life is her own and no one else's. If she wants me out of it then I will go.

"_Do not address her so lightly_," Jack spit out like each word was poison. "She is much higher in stature than you can ever hope to be. She is not someone you can treat so informally."

"Yet you treat her like that," Ace protested. "You have no right to tell me what to do and what not to do!"

"Unlike you I happen to be a lord of a nearby island," Jack responded. "Can you not see the ways you're hurting her? Can you not see the ways I hurt her as well? I shall soon have to distance myself from her, as much as I hate to admit it. She's engaged to a powerful man Ace, one that shouldn't be easily challenged."

"Cassie is Cassie and that's a fact," Ace said. "I won't change the way I treat her because of who she knows."

"We're both pirates," Jack started. "He's a prince soon to be king. Even if I'm a second son of a lord I can't provide for her like he can. You can't provide for her like he can."

"She hates him! He practically tears her apart more and more each day," Ace said clenching his fists. "Are you willing to watch that?"

"I might be," Jack responded. His silver eyes held a heavy sadness to them one that Ace couldn't quite fully understand. "Even if she dies a little bit inside each day, at least she's _alive_. I don't know how deep your relationship is, but can you guarantee her safety a hundred percent of the time like he can? We live a dangerous life day to day, and I have no doubt that the Princess can handle it, or be fine with handling it. Are you ready to take on the guilt if something were to happen to her while she was with you?"

"Where's your guilt for taking her on Whitebeard's ship? That could have gotten both of you killed."

"I bare no guilt for it, but restrictions that make my life increasingly harder day to day. You have no idea how vastly different our situations are."

"I'd never feel that guilt," Ace answered. "I'd never feel that guilt, because even though Cassie is a snarky, sarcastic, reckless person, she'd still appreciate that I put what she wanted before what I wanted. She'd be happy if she got to do what she wanted even if it leads her to death. It's strange that I haven't known her as long and yet I think I know about her than you."

Ace left without another word feeling fully heated, he would have to take a few seconds to cool himself down before talking to Cassie. Even though he had argued with Jack almost disproving his words they still stuck in his mind. He would no doubt have to ask himself is he was really doing the right thing by trying to steer her away from Prince Haru.

Jack was fully right that Prince Haru could give her things Ace could never imagine giving to her. Like the necklace that had started this all. That damned ruby necklace that matched the color of her shirt today. He found a million ways to curse both Jack and the prince before something dawned on him.

Just how deeply had he become attached to Cassie?

OO00OO

"What did you talk about with Jack?" Cassie finally asked as they neared the ship. She had been refraining herself from asking, but her curiosity was killing her inside.

"It's not something you need to worry about," Ace answered. He saw that she was pouting at his response. "Careful you're immature side is showing."

"What?" Cassie responded faking outrage. "I'm perfectly mature."

"In more ways than others I guess," Ace replied casually. "Are you really that against marrying Prince Haru? He could give you everything you could ever want."

"Let's pretend the guy is not a total creep for a second and look at this from a political stand point," Cassie said stopping. "Just stop and look around for a second. What do you see?"

Ace appeased her and stopped. He looked around and saw the streets with people moving about. There were a few children playing while their parents talked to one another. Some of the shops had goods and advertisements in the windows. For this island things were about as busy as they ever got.

"This Ace is my home," she finally said. "This island is located at the center of the Prince's enemies and allies. His empire is conquering everything it can. All that you see here will be virtually destroyed and turned into a battle point. Everything I value or love could be destroyed. Not only that, but I'd be forced to take part in it. I'd have to use my powers for a horrible cause. By the way he attempted to kill me ten years ago by giving me that very devil fruit. Well it was his father, but the apple never falls far from the tree."

Ace just stared at her for a second taking in her facial expression. It was calm and held a maturity he hadn't seen from her before. She looked so beautiful.

"I'm sorry, but I could never stand by and watch something I love be destroyed," she said.

Her smile was brilliant, and gorgeous. The best one Ace had ever seen. She looked like an actual Princess. Not the ones seen in the real world that are corrupted and judgmental. She looked like she leapt from the pages of an epic fairytale with a beautiful untouchable princess.

"I think I fell in love with you," Ace said bluntly. Before Cassie could react he was laughing and scratching his head. "I'll save you believe me. Wait for me Cassie."

OO00OO

Cassie knew she should be paying attention to this as the designer talked about what she could wear for her wedding, but she couldn't bring herself to.

She hadn't left the castle at all today and it was already after two. She just couldn't leave. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Ace. How was she supposed to react?

He had said it so suddenly and they barely knew each other. He had also said it so simply and composed as if he was breathing. The way he had smiled after it was what was the most stunning. It looked like he was relieved that he finally figured something out. He just forgot the minor detail of what she thought.

Oh, Cassie had no idea what she thought. The man was handsome, and witty. He could hold a conversation, and they understood each other. In some strange way they understood each other. That was something she had never experienced before. Claire had tried, and Jack was just Jack. He was the first one to understand her.

The feeling of comfort she got from him was phenomenal. Comfort led her to the night she had been feverish. She had clung to him like a life line and subbed into his bare chest.

Oh god, what a nice chest was. She slapped her hands to her cheeks in order to block the blush that was appearing on them.

"Sweetie, were you listening?" the designer asked her.

She snapped from her thoughts and looked at him in a flustered fashion. Thank goodness no one from her family had bothered to show up at the dress meeting. They wouldn't believe her state; it was highly out of character.

"Oh, I'm sorry it's just that…" Cassie stammered trying to find the right words.

The man looked at her in understanding. He assumed that she was distressed at the absence of her family. Usually this was a big thing for brides the support of the family really helped. She was all alone, undoubtedly because Prince Haru had chosen her.

"I apologize for being late," someone said from the doorway. She walked in wearing a casual yellow ball gown with organza flowers around the waist. He golden blonde hair and blue eyes made her undoubtedly one of the four princesses.

Alayna tried not to laugh at Cassie's astonished expression. Her brows were crunched together and her mouth was slightly opened. It was rather funny. She smiled and waved.

"No it's quite all right," the designer said smiling. Cassie noticed he seemed rather happy at Alayna's presence. "We were just talking about the design. I just asked her if she wanted a full skirt or a slim one."

"Slim," they both said at the same time. Cassie looked at Alayna who just giggled a little bit.

"I need to put pink on it," the designer continued. "It was an order from her majesty." He didn't miss the way both of them seemed to sigh before sitting up straighter.

"How about making a train," Cassie suggested. Both of the people looked at her surprised she was finally participating in something. Alayna knew she wasn't cooperative, but the designer had only heard stories. "You could add pink fabric widening until it reaches the end of the train. That way I don't have to look at it."

"That's a good idea but," Alayna cut in. "Could you add a pink waist band with a lily." Cassie looked at her saying she should just be quiet. Alayna noted she was in a very testy mood today. "Our father loved lilies," she explained. "I'm sure he would like to see it represented in some way."

Cassie nodded in understanding. Somehow Alayna ended up taking care of the details as Cassie drifted away in thought. She didn't come to until the door shut behind the designer.

"Why did you come here?" Cassie asked her.

"I should be here," Alayna replied. "I'm your sister and I think I should support you although I rather not…"

"You were the one who told me I should marry him," Cassie stated blandly.

"Yes that was until I found out he was an egotistical bastard," Alayna defended.

"Say what?" Cassie asked. Alayna had been what Cassie saw as the ideal princess. Hearing that kind of language from her killed that fantasy.

"Sorry I forgot I was talking to you for a second," Alayna admitted. "You see I don't feel a need to speak formally with you. I really should, but I don't. I think the reason is because we both take after our father."

"I take after father?" Cassie asked surprised. She was a rebel and he was the perfect king. He played by the laws and never did anything wrong.

"Yes you do," Alayna said. "You're every bit as witty and sarcastic as he was. Also I can tell you both have other's best interests at heart. Plus all three of us have the same humor."

"You're kidding me…" Cassie muttered shaking her head.

"I'm not." Alayna smiled slyly. "The first thing you probably noticed about Ace was his butt."

"That's true but it doesn't mean a… How do you know about Ace?" Cassie realized.

"I was taking care of you when you had a fever," Alayna started. "He just hopped through the window and was there when I entered the room. We sat and talked for a bit. I bet he's the reason why you're so flustered right now." Alayna could see the pinks starting to warm the younger girls cheeks.

"Oh, I'm so right," Alayna mused out loud. "I wouldn't mind if you ran away with someone like him. He's a good person."

Cassie was left stammering out words to try and defend herself, but she felt they were all useless.

Maybe she wasn't in love with Ace now, but she was getting there and quickly too.

OO00OO

Prince Haru crumpled the piece of paper in his hand. He was furious at Cassie. She was making friends with pirates. How dare she?

He had set up everything for her on this island. Trustworthy friends and now she even had attractive attire to wear instead of that hideous pink trash her mother dressed her in.

Oh he would be keeping a very close eye on his future wife. She would not be able to escape him. No one had ever escape him, surely no one would ever escape him.

OO00OO

**This chapter is a little short but that's because I'm posting it so soon after the last update. I'm sorry for any grammar and spelling errors that I made. I didn't read back over it. Also another chapter might not happen this week.**

** I was very disappointed when I had to read over some of my reviews this week. I was torn apart for an obvious mistake I made. Honestly I'm surprised no one called me on it earlier. I don't mind if my mistakes are pointed out, but please do it in a nicer way. Here is my message to you if you were a guest reviewer.**

**Dear Guest one,**

**I tolerate you and am happy you pointed out my mistake. It was honestly a pretty idiotic one. I have corrected it, so if you are still reading this than you can go back and see that it has been fixed.**

**-Bubblegum370**

**Dear Guest two,**

**Assuming you aren't the same person as guest one. You don't need to point out mistakes that have already been pointed out so kindly by guest one. I actually fixed it. You also don't need to post a review twice or be so hurtful and rude with your reviews. Fanfiction is a place for writers to develop writing skills by being mean you can discourage people who love to write from writing. Yeah honestly it's just not okay. Also if you want to insult my intelligence use proper English. Here's a hint: the English language is not in all upper case letters. Please don't double post either. I hate that some people might have read your stupidity more than once. Also if you want to insult my writing get the balls or ovaries required to post it under your profile name. Otherwise you just look bad. Well, worse.**

**-Bubblegum370 (Setting assholes straight since the third grade)**

**Thank you to **

**Caramel27**

**RedneckChick**

**Angelrider13**

**Emz**

**Sanzopriestess**

**I love you guys! Especially since I had some pretty harsh comments this chapter. I appreciate your reviews more than you could imagine.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Warnings: This chapter will contain language and sexual references. Next chapter there will more than likely be a poorly written and awkward lemon. They are just so embarrassing to write.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

**Chapter 6**

"Two weeks," Ace muttered. He let his head fall on the table below him. Marco just watched him with a curious look in his eyes.

He hadn't heard from Cassie in two weeks. It was killing him. If he had been thinking he wouldn't have blurted out like that. He could still see the way her perfectly shaped chocolate eyes widening in shock. He himself could only laugh at his realization during that time.

Honestly after he realized it, it was all he could do. It explained so much. He knew why he agreed to all of her demand, or even why he still talked to her. He was usually a man of his word, but if it were any other woman he wouldn't have tried to help her.

The second he saw her sitting alone with her head held high during her birthday party. She had been all alone and it hadn't fazed her. She was strong even when most people would have crumbled down too weak to try and stand up. The final shot was that smile. Just thinking about it sent jolts of happiness through his body, as well as other things.

"Two weeks since I last saw her Marco!" Ace practically yelled. Everyone in the room turned to look at Ace who just smiled sheepishly and apologized.

"Well she does have a wedding to plan," Marco said. He caught the dangerous glint in Ace's eyes. He would have to tread lightly. "I'm guessing they're keeping a closer watch on since she's a liability. Plus she had an engagement party last night. Most of the royals from around here are at the castle. It must be hard to sneak out."

"I can't take it!" Ace proclaimed. "I'm going to see her."

Marco let out a huff of air. He wondered if Ace really understood what he was getting into. Then again, if it was Ace he would manage somehow.

OO00OO

"You look very grown up and sexy my darling," the woman cooed.

Cassie could only stare in the mirror at herself. She hadn't even realized it, but she'd grown up. What had been the turning point of her life? She had considered herself an adult since the day her father died. That was when she had to do everything for herself, without failure.

Now it looked as if her body had matured along with her mind. The lingerie pushed up her breasts with a silky white material. The rest went into see through lace material corset that stopped at equally see through white panties. Somehow the top had been connected to thigh high lace stockings that made her legs look impossibly long.

Then a sickening thought crossed her mind. She wasn't wearing this for anyone she loved. She was wearing it for someone she'd like to drop kick into the Grand Line and watch as something killed him painfully and slowly. Just the thought of him touching her like that…

"I think I'm going to be sick," Cassie said covering her hand with her mouth.

"Don't worry my dear everyone gets nervous their first time," the lady tried to help. Cassie only felt the sickness feeling get worse.

"I think that's enough for today," Alayna cut in. "You are excused I can take care of everything."

Alayna rushed to her sister's side and placed a hand gently on her back as the woman left. Alayna hated oblivious women that woman just made her annoyed. Her sister had gone completely pale at the woman's words.

"Don't worry Cass," Alayna comforted. "That's not going to happen to you. We'll figure a way out of this."

"Alayna the day keeps get closer and I don't even want to think about the night," Cassie whispered. "I'm sorry I have to go out. I need some air."

"Really it's about time," Alayna huffed. "I was hoping you would stop avoiding Ace. They say the day a girl becomes a woman is when she realizes she is in love. You look like a woman so have you figured it out."

"Alayna stop," Cassie said while changing. "I don't deserve him. It'd be selfish of me to take him. He'd have to deal with all my problems and there are far too many to make him deal with."

"Originally this was a bet," Alayna reminded. "Something tells me Ace always stays true to his word. I'll cover for you."

"Whatever," Cassie mumbled as she jumped safely out the window.

"Dad you'd think she's adorable in denial too right?" Alayna said before she smiled and exited the room.

OO00OO

Ace had been expecting to have to break into the castle to see Cassie, but he had been wrong. She stood out in a bright red off the shoulder dress that exposed her shoulders and neck. The dress was fairly modest compared to what he had last seen her in. It went down to her knees and the black boots she wore were replaced by black flat shoes. The loosely tied black bow corset also indicated she didn't plan on doing anything mischievous. So what was she doing then?

He let his curiosity get the best of him, and started to follow her. She walked out of the town onto a path he hadn't known existed. It was hilly and uninhabited. He could only imagine why she had come here.

Ace could hear nearby waves crashing against rocks and the squawking of seagulls. Everything was perfectly quiet. To him the rest of the world disappeared as he saw her near the edge of the cliff. He was running before he could blink.

"Don't jump!" Ace shouted. Cassie turned around just in time to be locked in by his arms as they stumbled away from the edge.

"Ace what the hell are you doing here?" Cassie asked squirming in his arms. He still hadn't let go and she was happy her face was away from him. It had turned an adorable shade of pink.

"I don't know what you're thinking," Ace said. "Whatever it may be I won't let you jump. I'll take you away from all of this from all your pain."

"Idiot…" she muttered. "I'm visiting my father's grave."

"What? Shouldn't that be in the palace cemetery?" Ace inquired. Cassie finally broke free of his grip and glared at him.

"You idiot just look!" Cassie pointed to a small but modest tombstone.

It wasn't something Ace thought a king would want. It was made of common stone and no bigger than an average person's. It didn't look like it had been blessed, or even skillfully engraved. All it said was: a great king and lover of the sea.

"His last wish was to be buried here," Cassie explained. "I hadn't visited him in a while, but now I just needed to."

Ace was stricken with guilt. If he had known what she was doing he wouldn't have come with.

"The queen thought it would be improper to bury him here so she created a false grave inside the castle for looks," Cassie explained. "At least she did something right."

Ace looked at her and noticed how thoughtful she looked. It was a rather mature look for Cassie. In general he knew something had changed. He mentally what over a check list in his head. Everything was the same but it wasn't. That's when she looked at him and he was stunned. Those chocolate colored eyes of hers seemed to be staring into his soul. It was like she was analyzing him carefully before speaking. He was a little frightened; Cassie doesn't usually have a filter. If she is thinking things through he should be ready for the worst possible news.

"Ace, why do you love?" Cassie asked.

Ace blinked a little bit at her. He was happy it wasn't bad news. He wasn't sure how to respond though. Why did he love her? He had thought about it before, but how could he explain it? It wasn't just one thing about her. It was so much more than that. He smiled when the answer finally came to him.

"I love you because you're Cassie," Ace replied. "That's all you had to do for me to fall in love with you."

Ace grinned as he saw the blush creep across her cheeks. It was good to know that he could still get a reaction from her. It meant he was doing something right.

"You know what?" Ace said standing up. "Follow me."

He out stretched his hand. He noticed how she hesitantly grabbed it while she stood up. He restated the urge to pull her body closer to his, and instead opted to keep a tight grip on her hand.

"I intend to court you," Ace said triumphantly. She let a half smile on her face.

"My goal is simply to resist the urge to hit you," Cassie responded.

Ace let out a sigh of relief at that. His Cassie was still very much his Cassie.

OO00OO

"Ace, are you going to tell me where you're taking me yet?" Cassie asked annoyed. She was currently upset that Ace was dragging her all around town.

"I know it's around her somewhere…" Ace muttered to himself looking around. He smiled wide when he spotted it, and turned Cassie to it. "Have you ever been here?"

"No I have never been in that… establishment," she answered. Honestly it looked a little run down. Why exactly would he bring her here?

However, before she could contemplate that though he was tugging her over to it. She examined it further seeing that a person was behind the counter. If she wasn't mistaken there was a cool breeze coming from it as well.

"I'll have one chocolate and one strawberry," Ace ordered handing money to the woman behind the counter. He took them from her hands and handed the strawberry one to Cassie.

Cassie took it and examined it curiously.

"What's this?" she asked. Ace let his mouth go slack at the question.

"You have never had ice-cream before?" he asked in disbelief. She nodded her head with a blank expression. "What exactly do you eat?"

"Whatever Jack, or the palace cooks give me," she replied. Ace smiled as she tried to sniff the ice-cream.

"Clearly you're missing out on life," Ace commented. "You eat it like this." He took a lick of his chocolate ice-cream to show as an example.

Cassie looked at him, but then did the same. He watched as her eyes filled with delight. Then he saw something amazing, something he loved seeing. He saw her true smile flicker across her face, though it was just for a moment.

"This is actually really good," Cassie said before trying to eat more.

"Well princess I'm sure there are a lot of things I still need to show you," Ace said. "We're breaking free of your cage, so you can do whatever you want to."

"Haven't you noticed I already do that?" She asked with a smirk.

OO00OO

"You know where she is, don't you?"

Alayna ignored the harsh voice of the her sisters fiancé. She had to stop the disgust when she thought of him like that. For some reason the man was simply vile to her. She couldn't decide why, there were just too many reasons to count. His sadistic behavior and over confidence was on the top of her list though.

"Who are we talking about?" Alayna asked innocently. Prince Haru scowled down at her thin form.

"You're the only one who bothers to talk to her besides me," he said smirking. "You know where she is."

"I'm sorry Prince Haru, but I am still unaware of who we are talking about," Alayna persisted. She flinched as his hand stopped an inch from her face. She scowled, but quickly changed her look to one of indifference.

"I'm talking about Cassie," Prince Haru stated. "She's been gone since her last fitting which you sat in on. I'm positive you made sure she would look absolutely _delicious_ for me on our wedding night."

"You are absolutely vulgar," Alayna hissed. "Royalty should not speak like that." His eyes held amusement as he finally saw her calm façade shatter. He knew she was very much like Cassie, he could just tell.

"How could you say that?" he asked pretending to be hurt. He had to keep the amusement from crossing his features, but it was rather difficult. "Soon I will be using her body to its fullest. I will start by teaching her how to please me on our wedding night. I'll make it the most _painful_ experience for her if you don't tell me where she is, or I could burn the school in town down. That's where you go from time to time, right?"

"Are you some type of senile stalker?" Alayna seethed. She felt a shiver run through her body when he let out a deep laugh.

"Where is she?" he repeated menacingly.

Alayna looked to the side and sighed. Cassie wouldn't be mad at her if she told him based on the threat. She knew very well that he would act on his threats. If there was one thing Cassie would never do it was allow useless bloodshed. Unless she was drunk, may whatever gods out there have mercy than.

"My guess is she went to visit our father's grave," Alayna replied. "She missed dinner and that was hours ago. I have no idea what she is doing now. I would check some of the local bars."

"Thank you," he said walking away. Alayna caught the sarcastic hint in his voice.

"Where are you going?" she asked not amused with his arrogant attitude.

"I'm going to retrieve my property personally."

Alayna's thoughts were racing, but they all meant the same thing. Cassie was in danger.

OO00OO

"Ace do you even know how to dance?" Cassie asked as he dragged her on the dance floor.

She was having the most amazing day. Words couldn't even express how she was feeling. Every time Ace would give that goofy grin of his she couldn't help, but smile. If he so much as even touched her she could no longer hear anything over the rapid beating of her heart. Her stomach had been doing one big continual flip flop. Dancing would probably be the end of her sanity. Especially if it was in this place.

Heat was dripping off of the deep orange walls as dancers moved around the floor with ease and grace. However it wasn't the type of dancing she was used to. Just watching them made her want to join.

"I may not be able to do all of your fancy waltzes," Ace replied leaning in closer so he could whisper in her ear. "However a tango is only requires passion and love. I have both for you."

Before Cassie could say anything the music had started a new song. He jerked her to the beat. Cassie not wanting to lose to him followed his lead if only slightly. She caught the hungry look in his eyes and returned his gaze before he could spin her around. He dropped her into a dip that had her head almost touching the ground.

She was yanked back up. She blushed as she felt his hard chest against her own. He walked strongly as she followed and she realized something.

Cassie didn't need to worry about Ace at all. Like her he was stronger than most people. By the way he danced she could tell. She was turned once again and pulled into him. He wrapped a leg around his waist and leaned into her before leaning back. He was surprised when she leapt off the ground and extended her leg into the air. He tried to keep his eyes on her face and not the skin revealed from the red dress slipping down her leg.

"You better be wearing something under that dress," Ace replied with a chuckle.

"Some things make great mysteries," Cassie whispered with a giggle. "What's under my dress is one of those."

"I've already undressed you once," he teased and watched her flush. He set her down on her feet and began to dance with her once again. "I wouldn't mind doing it again though."

He was surprised as she yanked him closer to her and began to lead.

"Sorry I just like winning," she said with a devious smirk. He gave her one of his own.

Soon their dance became a rush for dominance. To others it looked strange. They were forcing each other around neither wanting to make the other submit completely. Yet, the both of them were smiling.

Ace smirked as he sensed the end of the song drawing near. He swiftly knocked Cassie off her feet. She tumbled towards the ground bracing for impact with thoughts of hitting him in his face. Until he caught her wrist securely when she was inches from the ground. Her chocolate eyes met his and she saw his bright smile while he pulled her up.

"Have more confidence in me," he said sincerely. "I will never let you fall."

As cliché as it was she realized in that moment she actually loved him. She let out a giggle that made Ace slightly confused. She could say she didn't dislike one thing about him. That was in a miracle.

Cassie put both of her hands on Ace's cheeks and went on her tip toes to look into his surprised eyes. She brushed her lips lightly against his just to see what it would feel like. Ace had to hold himself back from taking control as he watched her lean in again. This time pressing her lips more insistently on his and moving them a little bit. The second he felt her tongue on his lower lip was when he lost it.

Before Cassie could protest or think she was outside pressed against of the building she had just been in. As his lips met hers again she found out she didn't really care.

Cassie had never guessed that kissing could feel so good. Her rough and disgusting kiss from Prince Haru couldn't even compare to this one. Her whole body was unexpectedly heated and melting into him as his tongue wrestled with hers.

Ace could only try and keep a hold on his emotions. So many were running through his mind. The first was relief; he was so relieved that she loved him too. The second was love, and he would show her just how much he loved her with his actions. The third was fear. The fear that what he was doing was wrong. The fear that he was taking advantage of a broken girl. Most of all, the fear that all of this could end in a second.

They parted to breathe and she looked at him with the smile he loved to see. He wanted to see it forever.

"Ace I lov-"

Ace's eyes widened in shock. Cassie was pulled away from his grasp. He would have never guessed he would see the man standing in front of him. He was also filled with anger at the sight of a dagger pressed to Cassie's throat.

Prince Haru was standing in front of him dressed in common clothes. That annoyed him but the fact that he matched Cassie in red made it worse. His mouth was curved into an all knowing smirk that practically had his blood boiling.

"And here I thought you were innocent my darling," he spoke pressing the dagger to Cassie's throat. "Seems my information was wrong. You are nothing but a tainted princess."

"Let her go!" Ace said. For the first time the two men looked into each other's eyes.

"I take it you're Ace," he said calmly. His expression changed from one of slight amusement to one of indifference when he met Ace's eyes for the first time.

"And here I thought you had better taste than that," he said in her ear.

Ace glanced at Cassie and realized she was more infuriated than he was. Her eyes were narrowed at him and her mouth was upturned into a snarl. She let out a slight growl as he pressed the dagger to her throat and drew a drop of blood.

Before he could do anything more she elbowed him in the ribcage and pushed the dagger away. She slipped out of his grasp and stumbled her way towards Ace. He was instantly in front of her shielding her from his grasp.

"What do you want?" Ace ordered.

"That's simple give me my fiancé back," the prince replied.

"You know," Cassie cut in. "You could address me instead of him."

"Well you have always wanted to hit me," Prince Haru mused. "Why don't you come at me?"

"With pleasure," Cassie complied. "Ace stay out of this

Before Ace could stop her she was charging at him. He snapped his fingers and out of nowhere lighting struck in her path before she could land a hit on him. He saw a flash of red hair before Cassie was tackled to the ground. He heard her yelp in surprise.

"What the hell?" she yelled. As her hands were tied behind her back. She was quickly silenced with a quick blow to her head.

"Very good Jack," Prince Haru praised. "Now what will you do pirate scum?"

"Well I'm simply going to kick your ass," Ace said lowly. "I have been waiting for a while to do that. Then I'm going to kick Jack's ass. Lastly I will untie Cassie so that she can take a couple sucker punches because she looks pissed and then she will finish what she was telling me."

"You would be a fool to challenge me," Prince Haru said.

"Your majesty," Jack addressed.

"It's quite all right Jack," he said. "Let him come at me."

That was all the agreement Ace needed. He was charging at the prince with his fist pulled back and going towards his face. It connected with his cheek, but it felt like punching a metal object. He heard his hand crack and caught the smirk across Haru's face.

"I am invincible," was all he said as Ace moved away when he attempted to hit him.

Prince Haru missed and hit the side of the building causing a dent to form in the brick surface. He pulled his hand back unaffected and turned to Ace with a smile. He got a surprise when fire flew past him.

"I see so it has come to this," Prince Haru muttered. "I will kill everyone within a mile of this area as well as Cassie's sister Alayna. Leave. Jack escort Cassie to her room."

With a nod of his head Jack obediently turned to follow his orders when fire blocked his path.

"Coward, why won't you fight me!" Ace yelled. He couldn't take the risk of that many people being hurt.

"I am not a coward," Prince Haru replied. "I am simply a man who has no problems using other's weaknesses against them. Therefore I am a man of strategy."

"Is your strategy to be a coward?" Ace remarked with fire spinning around his fist.

"No it's to make sure that I have Cassie," Prince Haru answered. "Stop your fire. Even if you do manage to do something the area will be destroyed. Cassie will hate you for it."

Ace stopped and stood up calmly reminding himself that now wasn't the time. People were starting to gather around, and it was too early for his plan to be set into action. He took a shaky breath trying to control his anger. He needed to be in control otherwise things would never work the way he wanted them to.

"I see you have at least half a brain," the prince said. "Goodbye Ace. May the ocean drown you as you take your leave."

Ace watched as Prince Haru and Jack walked away carrying Cassie. He reminded himself that Cassie was strong. Especially when drunk. He almost felt bad for whoever would be there when she would wake.

OO00OO

"You fucking traitor!" Cassie hissed as the Jack untied her.

She was angry. She was so angry she couldn't stand it. Her headache was worse than her hangovers. The worst part of it was he hadn't even bothered to answer her.

"How long," Cassie whispered. He finally looked at her with his silver eyes.

"Since the day we first met," Jack answered. A pained smile tugged on his lips.

"None of it was real then." Cassie let out a bitter laugh. "Just how did you do it? You lived a lie. What about your crew?"

"My life is not a lie," Jack answered. "It is an honorable one that I use to serve my future king and queen. It was my job to watch you and keep you from doing anything stupid. I needed to satisfy your natural curiosity so I borrowed some of the prince's men and created a fake crew. All the adventures were planned to not have any real danger."

He was cut off by a very wicked laugh. He blinked in surprised and realized it was Cassie. Her eyes had become fierce and she looked ready to kill at any second.

"It's funny how Prince Haru keeps killing the people I care for," she said.

In that moment Jack felt his heart shatter. He had lost her loyalty and to her the Jack she knew was dead. He felt like he was still with her though.

OO00OO

**Yeah I apologize for this chapter in general. I just wanted to get it posted because I felt like such a slacker. My life has just been really busy lately so expect irregular updates. Yes this chapter is also a little rushed and iffy. I'm also to lazy and tired to read through it. I'm sorry for all of my mistakes, but hey at least you know I'm not a robot or something…I'm also going to give you some news.**

**Originally I was going to stop this sooner than expected, but I have decided to make this a longer fanfiction so the plot for the next three chapters will feel weird at times. I also want to mention that the lemon WILL BE in the next chapter I will warn you again. I apologize if some of you don't like it, but others (myself included) enjoy a good lemon every now and then.**

**There I'm done ranting.**

*****angelrider13 you get stars for guessing the plot. It means my foreshadowing is working. Thank you.**

**Thank you**

** law**

**Caramel27 **

**Lady Syndra **

**RedneckChick**

**Sanzopriestess**

**NamikazeMia**


	7. Chapter 7

**Warnings: This chapter will have language and a lemon. In my mind it's graphic but that could just be because I'm an awkward person**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece… I really need to find a more exciting way to say that**

**Chapter 7**

Cassie wondered if this is what true pain felt like. She had lost her best friend to someone she hated. She was now a prisoner of her own home no longer able to leave the castle. She also felt this pain in her chest, and she knew what it was.

It was longing for Ace. She was beyond furious that she had been interrupted when she was about to tell him she loved him. When the prince had come to visit her she had made it clear she was angry with a slap to his face. However he had remained unaffected. There is nothing in the world more infuriating than indifference. It was also her biggest fear that she would become indifferent to her surroundings.

She needed something just anything really to distract her from her wedding that would be tomorrow.

OO00OO

Ace walked into Clark's store and something was very different. People were in it. They blocked his path as he tried to make it over to the front desk. Usually the store was empty, he just couldn't get over how foreign it felt to be in there.

He spotted Clark behind the desk and a line of people in front of it. He was expertly checking products and collecting money as well as buying off new merchandise from people. Ace saw him raise his head in acknowledgement of his presence and quickly excused himself to talk to him.

"Clark what's going on here?" Ace asked and the young man smiled at him.

"Follow me to the back and I will explain," he said walking back behind the counter with Ace following. "Everyone from the island over is scrambling to get a gift for the wedding tomorrow. The youngest princess is getting married over there and it's a tradition to buy her a gift."

Ace muttered an "oh" not really wanting to talk about the wedding. He was frustrated and stressed out about it enough, but he couldn't help but smirk to himself thinking about his plan. Oh he was going to enjoy the Prince's pain.

"Is this island under their jurisdiction?" Ace asked trying to keep conversation going.

"Well this is Ivory Island," Clark started, "the one with the princess is Ruby Island. We used to be related in political ways and what not, but that changed a couple years back. The king on the other island fell extremely ill and the king of this island left to help his long time friend. The king of Ruby fell and the king of Ivory disappeared."

"Well that's a rather sad story," Ace commented scratching the back of his head. "What do you do now?"

"We are a complete anarchy," Clark answered. "You have probably seen some crime on the streets, but most of it gets stopped. Jack and his crew protect the area, so we don't have very many problems here."

"How nice of him…" Ace muttered with distaste. Clark gave him a look of confusion, but then laughed.

"He can be lewd, but I promise he's a good guy," Clark said before searching through more things. Ace let his eyes roll at the comment, but said nothing.

"I found it!" Clark exclaimed.

He pulled out a small jewelry box and opened the lid. It revealed the beautiful medallion Ace had seen not too long ago. His mind had been screaming at him to get it for Cassie and he still had the exact same thoughts seeing it now.

"I lowered the price since you're Cassie's friend," Clark chirped. "This thing has quite a bit of history to it. It's an old family heirloom to a female pirate named Cornelia Porter. She has a high bounty on her head today. I hope for your safety you never run into her with it."

"Yeah let's hope," Ace said handing him the money. "Good luck Clark. I'll be leaving tomorrow so I probably won't see you again. I wish you the best."

"You aren't staying for the wedding?" Ace turned back and sent a grin towards Clark that made the boy shiver slightly.

"I'm more of a wedding crasher than anything." With that he left.

OO00OO

Jack stared down at the food that had once again been left outside of Cassie's room untouched. This had been happening the whole week she was confined to her room. Jack had tried to reason with Prince Haru that just keeping her inside the castle was enough, but he had failed.

No one had been to see her besides Alayna and that was only a few times. He had walked up to her room every day at least five times willing himself to go in, but he couldn't do it. He knew what he did was wrong, but was it really. His reasons meant everything to him, and she would surely understand. So why couldn't he just tell her?

Jack didn't remember being this weak ever. He blamed Cassie she had this way of effecting people without knowing. The girl had that amazing skill, but she was blind to see it. He had been lost and lonely until he met her. Still he chose to abandon her and betray her. He let a bitter smile cross over his face; he was the worst.

Sucking in a deep breath he entered her room without knocking. She was absolutely breathtaking in a heartbreaking way. The deep red color of the chiffon gown she was wearing blew slightly from the wind that was coming through the windows. He also saw her deep brown hair in its natural curly state hanging by her shoulders without any styling. She was so beautiful, but there was a hauntingly blank stare in her eyes. She never once glanced at him as he walked in. She was like a caged bird wanting to break free, but helpless to do so.

He walked and sat down on the side of her bed and she didn't flinch. She didn't give any sign that she felt them there. It was obvious that she knew about him, but didn't want to admit he was there. It was like he was a secret that she never wanted to tell or think about again.

"I hope you know that I did what I did for a reason," Jack said after a few minutes of silence. He looked at her and saw no outward change. He couldn't even tell if she was listening to him. "I have been trying to find the right way to tell you this, but you really are my friend. Actually you are my only real friend. I would like it if we could still be friends."

He was met with silence and he felt his shoulders slump in slight disappointment. He was hoping for any type of response. Even yelling was better than silence. He wanted to hear a sarcastic insult more than anything though.

He sighed, thinking that he should just tell her why he was doing this. At least she would know instead of having to ponder over it for years. That is if she was still thinking.

"Tell me what you would do to have your father back?" Jack asked. For the first time Cassie turned to look at him. Her eyes held a murderous intent that he had never seen in their chocolate depths before. He could see that it was a touchy subject. She had always hated talking about it unless she fully trusted the person. That mean he was now excluded from that group.

"I'll start by introducing myself," Jack mumbled. "My name is Jack James Ivory and I am the third and only living prince of Ivory Island. I'm thought to be dead because I ran away unable to deal with my dad's disappearance." He saw a flicker of shock in her eyes, but she did a very good job at masking it.

"The day I met you I met Prince Haru earlier," he continued. "He asked me if I wanted to see my father again. I loved my dad and he was a great man. I naturally agreed to whatever he wanted in exchange my father would be freed from his control. He wanted me to watch you and guard you when you snuck out of the palace from that day forward. I hated you at first. The first week when I was around you I wanted to do nothing more than slit your throat slowly and painfully."

He got a twist of Cassie's body and her eyes narrowed dangerously at him. She was definitely thinking about ways to kill him right now. He could tell even though she didn't show it on her face it was radiating from her body.

"Then I started to get to know you. I couldn't hate you even though my father had left with the sole purpose of trying to save yours. I blamed your family for it until I met you. Then I understood why my father might have done that. If you were anything like your father you were impossible to hate. I found that out I just couldn't hate you. Soon my job became my life. At one point I actually wanted to go back and change everything. I believed in the life I was leading and wanted it to just stay that way. You were my first friend. You never asked something of me that I would be unwilling to give you. Hell, you even asked me if I needed anything with no ulterior motives."

"I know you may hate me now, and I'm okay with it. I may have wanted to change the past, but now I can't say that I want to. Without me getting involved in this shit I would have never met you. I don't even know if I would still be alive. So now I have one thing to ask you. Do you forgive me Princess?"

He was met with silence once again. It was as if she didn't even care he poured out his heart to her. It was frustrating, but understandable.

He got up to exit and opened the door.

"Jack unfortunately I was blessed with the trait of loyalty," Cassie finally spoke. "I can never hate you, but I cannot forgive you either. Just know that I understand why you did what you did."

In a way it was closure for both of them. However, it left a bitter taste behind for the two of them.

OO00OO

Alayna watched as Jack trudged away from Cassie's room. A smile crossed her face. At least the two friends had come to some sort of agreement.

She waited for no one to be around before she entered the room. Cassie was staring out the window like the last time she had been in there. If it wasn't for the different dress Alayna would swear that she had never moved from her spot.

"Hey I came to talk," Alayna said. Cassie turned her head and managed a weak smile. Alayna kept herself from sighing in relief at the sign of emotion. Cassie hadn't been showing it all week.

"What about?" She asked moving over so Alayna could sit next to her. Alayna settled in next to her making herself comfortable.

"Has anyone ever told you about your mother before?" Alayna asked her. "I mean in detail."

"No one has told me anything besides she was a slut and a pirate." Cassie didn't look to offended saying that. She didn't really feel anything for her mother, so it didn't matter to her.

"Well let's start with the basics." Alayna brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "She must be about thirty-seven since she had you around twenty years old. That would make her about seven years younger than father. Her name is Cornelia something… I can't really remember."

"The for sure thing you inherited from her was her mouth. That woman could swear like no tomorrow. You may have gotten your strong sense for justice from our father, but I believe you inherited your loyalty from her. That woman I still remember hearing about her departure. When she was pregnant with you she stayed in this room."

"Wait she stayed here when she was pregnant?" Cassie inquired

"Yes father insisted on taking care of you knowing that eventually his affair would have to end. He knew you could be that little part of her he could always keep. Also you probably believe you were put in this room away from everything by my mother, but father put you here. He had some idea that having you live in this room would help you stay connected with her in some way. At one point you had her necklace, but my mom tossed it into the sea after your birthday blaming Cornelia for everything that went wrong that day. To this day we have no idea where it is."

"Well I'm guessing my mom is still out there," Cassie stated after a few moments of comfortable silence. "My gut feeling is that she wouldn't die until she met me."

"You must realize she loves you," Alayna said with a smile.

"No I think she must get her kicks from being a bitch," Cassie replied. Both the girls broke into a fit of giggles.

"The other thing I need to tell you is about Ace." Alayna noticed the glimmer in Cassie's eyes and how hope radiated off of her body. "He sent one of his crew members to talk to me. I think his name was Marco, but anyway he told me to tell you that plans for the escape have been made and Ace will be coming to see you tonight. You should have everything of importance on your person when you walk down the aisle. From there you'll be leaving. I suggest bringing a weapon."

"Are you talking about my amazing sarcasm or a gun?" Cassie joked. Alayna's eyes widened. Just hearing about Ace could calm her down and put Cassie in a good mood. Alayna would have to find someone like that as well.

"I'm sure either of those could take a life if you aren't careful with them." Alayna laughed after that with Cassie.

OO00OO

Ace crawled through the window of Cassie's bedroom to see her calmly leaning against her headboard with a book in hand. She looked absolutely stunning even in the pale light of the room. The second she glanced up from her book and smiled at him was when he lost his restraint. He rushed to her side and practically leaped onto her in a hug.

"Ace what the hell!" Cassie said attempting to pry him off of her.

"Let me hug you I was so worried," he muttered into her stomach. He felt her sigh at his actions before she ran a hand through his black hair soothingly.

"As you can see I'm just fine," Cassie said. "Besides for the most part I take pretty good care of myself."

"You got knocked out in five seconds…" Ace mumbled. He had his head yanked up by his hair. "_Oww_! That wasn't very nice."

"Yeah I'm not known for how nice I am," Cassie commented. Ace cracked a smile in her direction. Cassie flushed realizing just how close they were to each other as naughty thoughts of their last kiss flowed through her brain.

"Hey Cassie what are you thinking about?" Ace asked his smile turning into a smirk. He watched in amusement as her face became slightly more pink. He absolutely loved her golden brown skin tone it was perfectly even and just the right shade to see her beautiful blush. It rivaled the beauty of her elegant neck.

"No-nothing," Cassie whispered out. A silence fell between the two as Cassie avoided his eyes.

Her mind quickly roamed to the place it had been going for a week. Her wedding was tomorrow that could mean a lot of different things for her. Most of them were bad, but she still cling desperately to that hope that she would be fine and that Ace would save her. She couldn't remember the last time she had been so codependent on someone, or as frightened as she was now.

"Ace…" she practically whispered. "What if something bad happens tomorrow?"

"Nothing bad will happen," he said without hesitation. "I will be there when everything happens. Understand that I would die for you."

"No you aren't allowed to die for me," Cassie said grabbing his face. "I would rather die than see the one I love in front of me die."

He placed a hand over hers and smiled at her. Cassie felt complete at that second for the first time in her life.

"You just said love," Ace whispered in her ear. He pulled back to look into her brown eyes.

"So I did," she taunted with a smirk of her own. "I love you Ace and if you ever forget it I will castrate you."

Before Ace could retort she pressed her lips to his. She was instantly searching for that deeper connection they had last time. Her mind was buzzing from the second he returned her kiss. Her body was heating up and she only vaguely knew what was going on. It was something she hadn't experienced before and it felt as good as it did unfulfilled. She needed something to quell her want.

Ace's tongue darted into her mouth carefully caressing it. He was trying to keep control over himself, but she was so _damn_ tempting. Before he could stop himself he had moved to lay over her. His legs tangled with hers as his hands wandered down her sides. He was fully aware of what her body must be like under her thin night gown and his eyes couldn't wait to see it. A moan sounded from the back of her throat and he pulled away from her instantly. They were going too far too fast.

"Cassie we need to stop," he said breathlessly. He looked down at her meeting her heated eyes and almost snapped right then.

"I want to continue," she protested leaning up on her elbows.

"Do you even know where this is going?" Ace asked. "You didn't even know what ice-cream was a week ago."

"Ace I know that this is leading to sex," she said annoyed and bluntly. "The servants always talked about it when I was younger. Besides with the fear that something could go wrong tomorrow and I could end up in his hands I would want you to take me."

"Nothing will go wrong tomorrow," He said stroking her arm. "We're strong, nothing will happen."

"You can't be absolutely positive about that," Cassie replied. "Ace please I need you."

God did that last phrase have his hormones raging. Cassie was seriously unaware of how hard this was for him. He wanted to ravage her, but he had held back. She wasn't making this easy for him. The second he looked into those deep brown eyes his fight was over. He had to give into her.

"Fine, but we do everything my way," Ace muttered. Cassie noticed the slight pout on his face from her beating him. "I'm going to make sure I never cause you any pain."

"Stop with the clichés and get a move on," Cassie whispered harshly.

Ace smiled genuinely at her. It was rather cute how she was trying to hide her embarrassment from him.

**Lemon starts here!**

He pressed a kiss to her lips once again, but this one was more urgent with a need for the other one. Her arms wrapped themselves around his neck as she responded. He could already feel her trying to take over the kiss and be in charge. It wasn't unusual for her personality, but Ace had no intention in doing that.

He had the experience which she lacked. Although he had only been with a few women most had been older and experienced. He knew exactly how to find what would make her feel good. If he had his way Cassie would want _everything_ he had to offer to her.

Ace slipped the thin straps of her red night gown over her shoulders and began to nip lovingly at her gorgeous neck. He couldn't leave marks tonight, but just imaging how next time they did this her neck would be littered with his affections made him excited.

He then pulled the gown slowly off of her body with Cassie raising her body to help aid his efforts. He then stood on his knees and just simply admired her. Her panties and bra were a soft pink color he used to see her in. She probably hated them, but it made her look the picture of innocence. It also made him feel guilty, but he ignored it.

He came back up her body and started a slowly taunting kiss which she fully responded to. He traced his hands up her sides as she tangled a hand in his black hair. Cassie moaned into his mouth as he firmly grasped her breasts and massaged them gently. He couldn't help from smiling into the kiss, and when he did that Cassie couldn't help but bite his lip in reply.

He picked her back up off the mattress in order to undo her bra hook and remove it from her body. After that he instantly took to attacking the soft mounds with his mouth. He licked around one of her pert nipples before taking it into his mouth and sucking. He tweaked the other with his hand while he listened to the sweet noises that were coming from her mouth. If she kept making them it would become almost impossible for him to hold himself back.

After giving the other breast the same treatment he placed butterfly kisses down her stomach leading to her panty line. He inhaled already smelling the scent of her arousal. He eagerly removed her panties and could already see her glistening in the dark.

"Cassie you're so _wet_," he mumbled.

Cassie looked at him with curiosity evident in her eyes as she watched the pirate plant his head between her legs as he spread them. Her body shuddered as she felt something slick slide up her folds. At first it felt weird until this heat began to build within her stomach. Soon she let out a loud moan as Ace began to thrust his wet muscle slowly in and out of her hole. Before she knew it she was bucking up into him letting her body tell her how to act.

Her eyes met his in an erotic way when he looked up at her while he flicked his tongue against her clit. He slid his hand up her body and to her mouth placing two fingers against her lips.

"Suck them," he ordered. Cassie would usually protest but his voice was raspy in a way that attracted her and made her want to submit to him. She realized he was the perfect example of sexy.

She opened her mouth and began to suck on them not really sure what to do. She stopped and let out a loud moan as Ace began to furiously thrust his tongue in and out of her. She tried making more noises, but Ace shoved his fingers deeper into her mouth. He couldn't hear all of her noises or he would crack and lose control.

Cassie could feel that something big was happening as a knot wound tighter and tighter into her stomach. She felt so good and wanted to know what it would feel like when that knot came undone.

With a buck of her hips the knot unexpectedly snapped in her and she felt waves of heat rushing out from her body. Ace knew she had just reached her first orgasm and it turned him on that it had been him who caused it. He lapped up her juices into his mouth noting how much of it seemed to flow out of her. He slowly pulled his tongue away watching Cassie stare back at him with lust filled eyes; he could tell already that he would never tire of that look.

He pulled his body up even with hers and removed his now saliva covered fingers to her opening.

"This might hurt a little," he whispered lovingly to her. She nodded her head giving him the go ahead.

He slowly slid one finger in struggling to get it fully in because of the virginal tightness. He groaned at how good it would feel to have his painfully hard cock inside her. He looked at her face to see it dissatisfied and was shocked.

"You're still wearing clothes," she said hoarsely. "I don't like that."

He hummed at her before starting to move his finger in and out of her at a lethargic pace. Distracting her from his state of dress he kissed her roughly and enjoyed the feeling of her mouth against his. She was fast learner and he would be happy to teach her.

She broke the kiss to moan against his lips as he added another finger and began to move the back in forth inside of her. She loved this feeling of pleasure she was addicted to him already, but the way he touched her would make sure she never left him.

"How does it feel?" Ace asked her planting kisses on her jaw. She felt embarrassed to answer, but when he gave a particularly hard thrust of his fingers she couldn't help, but comply with his demand.

"It… feels good," she muttered brokenly. She moaned in protest as Ace removed his fingers before sucking on them in front of her.

"You taste surprisingly sweet," he said with a grin. "I'm sorry but I can't hold back any longer."

Ace moved away from the bed to remove his shorts and underwear. He caught Cassie staring at him and so he slowly pulled them down teasing her. His member was sprung to life as she laid eyes on it and Ace saw her visibly swallow from nervousness as he stalked his way over to her.

He kissed her once again rubbing himself in between her folds to prepare himself before entering her. He could feel her excitement bubbling off of her through her kiss. She really did want this and who was he to deny something to the woman he loved?

"Cassie," he panted breaking away from the kiss. "This will hurt, but you need to relax. I promise to make you feel good."

"Stop treating me like a kid," she murmered.

Ace held back his comment about how he would never have sex with a kid ad lined himself up with her entrance. He slowly moved inside her reminding himself that he wasn't fucking like an animal in heat but making love to a beautiful woman. He broke past her barrier and remained perfectly still inside her.

"You know you can move," Cassie said. He took one look at her face and knew she was lying to him. Tears danced on the edges of her eyes as she fought to hold back the pain and stay strong.

He kissed the corner of her eyes getting a small taste of her salty tears before he kissed her chastely on the lips.

"I will wait until you are completely ready and don't lie to me about your comfort, or anything for that matter," he replied in a husky tone.

It felt like a few minutes of pain for Cassie, but hours of temptation for Ace when she finally said he could move. When he first grinded into her producing a moan from her before he started thrusting gently into her. Soon they had a fast pace of craving for the other going.

"Ace…" she whispered as she approached climax. He heard his name and groaned thrusting harder and deeper into her.

"Scream it…" he growled. Cassie had barely registered what he said as her body began reaching that endless high.

She screamed his name as her fluids rushed out of her bathing his thighs as he continued to thrust in and out of her. Soon he pulled out and climaxed on her stomach.

He watched as she took a hand and ran it down her stomach feeling his seed. She was so breathtakingly gorgeous and sexy at the same time.

"Hey Ace I love you," She said turning on her side already drifting off to sleep.

"I love you too," he said kissing her forehead. "Now sleep, I will see you tomorrow."

Cassie closed her eyes and fell into a much needed sleep. Her thoughts were only filled with Ace and his wonderful _**ass**_ets.

OO00OO

**So that was my first lemon in a long time and I feel pretty good about it. I also really like how this chapter ties up emotional ends between some of the characters. This chapter was just thrown on to make the story longer, but there are a few different plot elements I threw in just because a complete filler chapter would annoy me. However, the next stage of the story is basically all filler with romance and plot. Well I guess that is the point of this fanfiction. I updated this with no editing because I really should be studying for my three tests tomorrow… I better hope I can write a book because with my study habits college is going to be hell.**

**Please wait for my next update!**

**Thank you**

**Lady Syndra **

**Caramel27 **

**NamikazeMia**

**RedneckChick **

**Angelrider13**

**Rabiosarabiosa**

**Sanzopriestess**

**For your wonderful reviews! I love you guys 3**


	8. Chapter 8

**Oh man it's good to be writing this fanfic again. Let me tell you any form of writing beats my Historiography‒which according to all search engines doesn't exist‒ for my high school Ap American History Class. I should also warn you that my writing may be slightly different from before. During my absence I spent a lot of my time reading books about writing and developing a voice. (If you're looking for one **_**On Writing**_** by Stephen King is a great "No bull shit" book). So my apologies if this chapter seems different from the rest.**

**Warnings: Chapter will contain Violence, sexual references, coarse language, and Ace's sexiness**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

**Chapter 8**

Cassie woke up to someone pounding on her door. She would have yelled for them to come in, but her voice felt hoarse. Her body felt uncomfortable in between her legs and she felt sticky. However, there was a strangely satisfying feeling from knowing that. She practically felt giddy inside from her activities with Ace last night.

"Enter," she finally said. She watched as three maids plus Alayna entered the room carrying her wedding dress. She scowled remembering what today really was. "Please prepare a bath."

"Yes Princess Cassondra," one of the maids said before bowing. The other two looked her expectantly wondering what they should do.

"Go help her or something," Cassie barked. They scampered off in the direction of their friend.

"Well somebody is a little cranky," Alayna teased. "Also a little bit disheveled. I'm guessing you and Ace had a wonderful night."

"Yes we did," Cassie answered. "I also plan on having another wonderful night later with _him_. Not with that disgraceful prince."

"My lovely sister I'm glad to see that you're personality is back," Alayna cheered. "So whose ass are you going to kick first."

"Oh don't even get me started."

OO00OO

"So that's the plan," Ace concluded. "Does anyone have any questions?"

"Yeah," Thatch answered. "Why are you wearing a shirt?"

The group of about fifteen men watched Ace's face go a slight shade of pink. They had all already figured out Ace's feelings for the girl, but it was still amusing to watch his reactions.

Ace was wearing a shirt because Cassie had left scratch marks along his back without either of them noticing. It would be a bold declaration if he was to walk around without a shirt on. He wasn't ready for that and was sure some people would not approve of it. Then again it's not like they would approve of what he was about to do.

"I thought I should at least try to look nice when I meet my girlfriend's family," Ace joked, scratching his head.

The crew broke out into light hearted laughter, but none of them were going to mess this up. No one would want to deal with Ace after that.

OO00OO

Cassie was stunning her family as she stood before them in her light weight wedding gown. It was exactly what she had asked for; even down to light weight fabric and pink trail. Her beautiful curls had been put into an intricate up do with a few strands left to frame her face. She was breath taking.

And all for the wrong man.

"I don't know why we're all being so quiet," Ashley spoke. "It's not like she's pretty or anything. I have no idea what Haru sees in her." Cassie raised an eyebrow at how informal she was with him; then again they deserved each other.

"Maybe he likes someone with half a mind," Cassie responded with a sigh. "You should be ready it is almost time for your entrance sister _dearest_."

Cassie watched nervously as her family entered the grand ballroom where her wedding was taking place. She herself had been shocked to hear just how many people had shown up for it. She could almost laugh at how disappointed they were going to be when they found out she was running away. Oh well it was her fault, not her problem.

The doors in front of her opened and revealed the mass of people and a beautiful aisle with beautiful lilies placed around the edges. She spotted Haru down the aisle and winced inwardly. It was weird not seeing him dressed for battle. That was a big mistake on his part.

She slowly began walking toward him as she was supposed to while music played. The whole time she was thinking about Ace and what life on the sea would be like. She hadn't realized her eyes had narrowed at Prince Haru who was the only obstacle still in her way.

The man in question smirked at her. Oh, he definitely thought he won. That annoyed Cassie to no end.

The music stopped as Cassie reached him. They both turned together to face the judge of Cassie's kingdom who would be wedding them together.

"Today we have all gathered to‒" he started.

"Watch as Princess Cassondra gets her long deserved freedom and the corrupt monarchy of Ruby Island fall," a voice completed.

Cassie smiled as she looked up to see Ace standing on a window over the alter. He stood as handsome and confident as ever. That grin gorgeous etched into his face only lifted her spirits more.

"Kill him," was all the prince said. Cassie watched as guards dashed to get at him, but she wasn't content with just watching.

Cassie tore her wedding dresses skirt listening to the now gasping crowd. Some were choosing to run out of the area to get away from the fight that would surely happen. She was more than ready for this.

Ace watched as Cassie revealed her legs from the shortened wedding dress he would have to talk to her about modesty. He also noticed her grab a gun from the white garter around her leg. The glint in her eye told him she was more than ready to fight.

He danced around a few men in order to hop down to her. She had her gun ready to fire if she needed it. He made his way over to her by hitting a soldier in the stomach with a fist laced in fire. Surprisingly, Prince Haru had not made a move to stop him as he moved to stand next Cassie. When he reached her he took her hand. They looked over the crowd that was still there.

It was a few hierarchy members of both Ruby and Ivory Island. That included Cassie's family and jacks mom. The judge was still there but cowering. Ace spotted a few generals in the audience and a countless number of soldiers, but he expected that. Cassie's mom stepped forward looking absolutely infuriating.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, without sounding angry. Cassie looked into her eyes with an isn't-it-obvious look. "I have tried my best to take care of you. I took you in even though you were a bastard child and did my best to raise you. I gave you this opportunity to be a great queen and you're throwing it back in my face. What do you have to say?"

If looks could kill than everyone in the room would be dead at that point. Although Cassie's face was relaxed her eyes held a deadly glint. Ace squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Well I could start with fuck you, but I'm sure you wouldn't like that," Cassie replied. "Ever since my father died this kingdom has been slowly declining because of your poor leadership skills and poor management of money. It's about time that someone did something for the people of this island and I intend to be that person."

"To continue this would be foolish," the Queen declared. "Look there is two of you and all of these people just waiting to capture you and _kill_ him. Are you going to not only in danger not only your life, but his?"

"Well Ace is a really _big_ boy," Cassie commented. "I'm sure we'll be fine. Plus I'm going to expose our family's dirty little secret. Getting out of here won't be a problem." Cassie watched as an ugly scowl broke across the woman's face.

"Cassie," Prince Haru addressed. Cassie looked at him to her side seeing that he was the definition of calm. "This is the last chance that I will give you to stop this foolishness and Ace go without any problems. Complete the ceremony and come with me and all this will be forgotten."

"You know what I'm tired of all you hierarchy people thinking about yourselves," Cassie replied. "I also want to say Mrs. White come at me. I'm the same pirate girl that talks to your son. For years now I've been sneaking off to live my own life. I'm done with double life I'm living my own. Even if I now take after my mother. Get over it."

The exchange of looks between Cassie and the queen was intense. However, everyone failed to notice the stare down between Ace and Haru; it was absolutely deadly. Of course, they were both more than ready to go at each other.

"Do whatever necessary to apprehend the girl," the Prince declared. He stood motionless as utter chaos started.

Ace was quick to have his flame push back the first wall of attackers. Cassie noted the number before scanning over the crowd to account for innocent people. She cocked her gun ready to fire immediately.

"Ace grab onto me and don't let go," Cassie said. Ace did just that quickly. "Elli Elli berry wind shot!"

Ace wasn't quite prepared for the rate that they shot out of the room. The powerful blast of wind had sent them clear into the air. It was enough to send them over the wall of the castle shocking him. Cassie wasn't kidding when she said she was powerful. Before he knew it they were falling head first into the ground.

He used his fire to land them safely onto the ground and gave her a hard look.

"Were you trying to kill us?" Ace asked her.

"Nah, I'm not into that whole romantic sacrifice thing," Cassie replied. She grabbed his arm leading him to run down the street. "Besides I knew you would save us. What's the plan?"

"Get back to the ship and leave," Ace said. "I had some of the crew clear of the street as well as make those legal changes you asked them to. Who would have thought that the island was a democratic monarchy?"

"No one," Cassie replied curtly. "The Queen took it out of the curriculum as soon as she was crowned. Funny how that works."

Ace could hear the men coming after them, but he was in good hands. Cassie knew the streets of the island better than anyone. She navigated through them without hesitation and quickly. Ace was finding it hard to keep up with her. It didn't take them long until the port was in sight. It would only take a few minutes at the most to reach it.

Cassie stopped in front of Ace suddenly and he almost collided into her back. It seemed like they had lost the group behind them, but that didn't mean they should wait for them to catch up.

"So my best friend wasn't going to attend my wedding?" Cassie asked. Ace made the connection instantly and suddenly saw Jack emerge from an alley.

"You didn't make me maid of honor and truthfully I was too hurt to attend," he stated. Although a smile was on his face Cassie could tell that he was serious by the look in his grey eyes.

"Ace go get the ship ready," Cassie ordered. "I'll handle it. I'm guessing you're not going to stop him unless I'm with him."

"That was my order," Jack confirmed. "I'll let him pass if you stay here."

"Ace go," Cassie repeated when he didn't move from his spot. "I can handle him."

"Stop acting like a princess," Ace stated. "I'll stay here."

"I'm not," Cassie protested. "I'm acting like a pirate who knows that it will take time to lift anchor. Make sure you do that I'll be right along."

Ace was hesitant to leave and Cassie could tell. He didn't leave nearly as fast as he could. It was good to know that he trusted her, but she didn't miss him whisper warning her to be safe. She couldn't help the small smile that popped onto her face.

"Are you just going to let him go? I thought you were more attached than that," Jack murmured as he watched Ace leave.

He barely blocked the punch that Cassie sent at his head. He easily pushed her back with his strength, but she managed to slide out of it gracefully. He saw that her brown eyes held determination. She was more than ready to fight him.

"I almost got you," Cassie teased. "I thought you were supposed to be strong captain."

She had to keep herself from gasping as he bolted towards her and landed a quick blow to her stomach. She dropped to her knees coughing, but still managing to glare at him.

"Princess, you shouldn't be so confident," Jack said. Cassie watched as electrical current began to flow from his limbs. "This might hurt, but I'm doing this for your own good. You'll be safer here."

Cassie easily dodged the first shock sent at her before rolling to her left and springing to her feet. She barely had time to collect herself before the next one was sent at her. Instead of backing off like anyone else would have she went for a different approach. She charged at him knowing full well that he can't kill her.

Cassie had always been a strong fighter, but she knew she paled in comparison to Jack. She was far from being the perfect fighter and she was at a huge disadvantage. Jack knew her every move. He had taught her everything she knew about fighting down to the very first punch she threw.

Every doge she made while charging at him became riskier than the one before it. Cassie had always been good at critical thinking she was hoping that this time was no exception.

Her eyes widened as a bolt of electricity shocked her sending her back at least twenty feet.

"Shock Shock jolter," Jack said wasting no time to attack a fallen Cassie.

The few seconds it took for Jack to get close to Cassie felt like hours to her. She grabbed and cocked her gun at the last second.

"Elli Elli vine shot!" she yelled. She watched as Jack's eyes widened in pure disbelief. She readjusted her form taking a kneeling position and pointing her gun once again after Jack landed on the ground with vines binding his limbs together. "Elli Elli water shot."

She had to stop herself from grinning at Jack as he lied on the ground in a puddle of water. The water made him unable to use his Devil Fruit powers without seriously injuring himself. It felt so good to be smart.

"And you thought I couldn't beat you," Cassie said as she stood up. She walked over and crouched down by him finally smiling. "You have no idea how satisfying this is."

"Be safe," he whispered. Cassie was surprised at how weak his voice sounded. "You're strong enough to leave. Don't get yourself get killed. I'm letting you go."

Cassie raised an eye brow at him as if questioning him, until he tore the vines. That was the first time Cassie had ever seen him use a dagger. He had told her he always had it with him, but he'd never used it. She stared wide eyed at him not knowing what to say.

"Be happy I'll hold them off," Jack said. They both stood up to leave, but he grabbed her wrist. "Take care." With that he gave her kiss on the forehead and pushed her away.

After that Cassie ran faster than she ever had in her life. Now there was nothing to hold her back. She was prepared to give it her all.

OO00OO

"We're ready to take off," a crew member informed Ace.

He stood anxiously by his captain waiting for Cassie. He had seen the sparks fly and heard the small explosions and gun shots. He could only imagine what was actually happening. He wanted to know for sure that Cassie was the winner.

"We have to cast off soon," the captain whispered to Ace. The firing had stopped and they both knew it was only a matter of time before they were attacked and they were hoping to pull this off with little conflict.

Before Ace could tell him to wait a minute Cassie flew onto the deck without using the ramp set up for her. She looked out of breath, but completely unharmed. He felt relief wash over him. He quickly ran to her side with a grin on his face.

"Set sail!" Whitebeard yelled. Instantly the deck filled with movement before the boat jerked away from dock.

"Geez calm down‒" Cassie started, but was interrupted by Ace kissing her lips. It was desperate and she chose to return it before pulling away. "You overreact to everything."

"I don't think you really have the right to say that," Ace joked with a grin. "I'm happy to see that you're okay. It looks like we're going to make it with only minor complications."

"You're wrong," Cassie said lowly. "Prince Haru was just testing the waters. He's a genius war strategist. He knew this would happen we are in no way free from him yet."

Ace sighed knowing that she was completely right. It didn't mean he wanted to admit it. He brought his hand and cupped her cheek. She smirked at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"I take it you're fully prepared to battle whatever you have to," the captain said pulling them away from each other's gaze. "I'm counting on you two to handle this."

"I'm sure we wouldn't have it any other way," Cassie confirmed. She stared boldly into the man's eyes. The prestigious captain let out a chuckle at the look in her eyes. Ace certainly had picked someone interesting.

OO00OO

It had been about an hour before another ship was spotted and it was obvious who it belonged to. Even from a distance Ace could make out the daunting form of the Prince. He was sure Cassie saw it as hatred seeped from her body. She had probably been thinking they might actually escape from this without confrontation, but the ship behind them was quickly catching up to them.

Before Ace could so much as speak to her she dashed to the back of the ship with her gun out. She silently jumped before pressing the trigger and propelling herself back to the Prince's ship, all while shooting the ship he was on farther away.

"You're so in trouble when I get to you Cassie!" he yelled at her. His fists and jaw were clenched. He turned around and began to bark orders. Seeing the shoes left on the deck of the ship.

OO00OO

Cassie landed gracefully barefoot on the deck of Prince Haru's ship. She instantly noticed how empty it was. There had to be no more than ten people on the ship. They all looked bloodthirsty and reading for battle. She would expect nothing less from the infuriating man in front of her.

"You looked beautiful in your wedding dress, but right now you're absolutely breath taking," he said walking towards her. "Braced for battle is exactly what I need my queen to be like. Is this a sign of you submitting to me?"

"Fuck no," Cassie sneered. "I'm here to kill you." She heard the laughter sound all around her and didn't miss the smirk the prince was giving her. "I just want you to promise there will be no outside interference during or after the fight. I simply get dropped off close enough to Whitebeard's ship. Simple, right?"

"And if I win you come back with me no resistance," the Prince finished. "Sounds fair. I'll even let you start."

He made no move to dodge as Cassie moved to hit him. She noticed and hesitated from attacking. Instead she aimed to side step around him. She grazed his skin with her fingernail noticing how his skin took no damage. She saw a smirk cross onto his features.

"I forgot that you were clever," he stated before landing a punch to her stomach sending her onto her knees. She bitterly wondered why everyone aimed to hit her there. "I already knew that last shot from your gun was your limit. Four shots a day according to Jack. I wonder if he survived my men punishing him."

He wanted to laugh at the anger that twisted on the girl's face. She got up to her feet and was prepared for his next attack slightly surprising her. He moved to hit her again, but she used his firm shoulders to push herself over him dodging the attack. She soon began to dance round him like it was nothing. She could tell he was getting frustrated with her, but wasn't expecting what happened next.

He drew his sword and left a gash on her left leg. She would have toppled to the hard deck of the ship if it wasn't for her strong resolve. She turned and faced him with a pissed off look in her eyes. Prince Haru chuckled darkly.

"You didn't think I wouldn't draw my sword on you?" he asked amused. "You make the same mistake that other people make. You underestimate my desire to win."

Cassie surprised him by breaking out into sudden laughter. The smile on his face disappeared as he looked at her. He couldn't figure out why she was laughing.

"I want you to think about this for a second," she said. "I am me and you are you. The main difference between us is that one of us will choose to win for the sake of winning. While the other will win for those around her. I'll give you a hint the latter wins in the end."

Cassie danced around his blade once more and caught sight of a bright light in the distance. She knew it was Ace, so it was time to finish this up.

"I have a question for you," Cassie said dodging him. "Is your body made out of metal?" She got her reply by a smirk that danced on his features.

She could hear the shouts of Ace in the distance. Cassie took a deep breath and prepared herself for what was going to happen next. She waited for Prince Haru to charge at her.

She concentrated all of her anger on her fist. She thought about how much wrong she had been put through. She thought about her stepmother and sisters and how horrible they had been to her. She thought about being locked up and forced into marriage. She thought about her father and how upsetting his death had been. Lastly she thought about Ace and how this horrible man was forcing her away from him.

She slammed her fire laced right fist through Prince Haru's chest at the exact moment his blade pierced her left should. She looked into his shocked eyes and smirked at his look of disbelief. She could already feel the searing pain in her right shoulder and blood pouring from the wound.

"A hot enough fire melts metal," she rasped out. "Just imagine how bad it would've been if Ace fought you. However, I didn't want him to have to touch a disgusting wretch like you."

She toppled backwards having the Prince's limp body follow hers crushing her to the deck. She didn't know if she passed out because she hit her head or lost a lot of black. The only thing she knew is that she blacked out and felt fucking terrible.

OO00OO

Ace stared at Cassie's body on his bed. She had been asleep for almost a week now with a high fever. He could understand why though. She had single handedly defeated a prince of war. Not only that he She had told him that using her devil fruit powers without her gun often made her sick when she was younger. She'd let out quite the blast of fire she was luck he was there with a small ship and Thatch who knew how to stop her profuse bleeding.

She'd killed Haru with a fist directly through his heart. Ace still had a vivid picture of his dead body. The skin had looked melted around the hole through his chest and his body had lost all color. It was as if he was a metal man that had never been alive.

At least they were both safe on Whitebeard's ship now. She just needed to get over this sickness. He took his hand and wiped away the sweat dripping down her forehead.

"That's gross," Cassie muttered. Ace looked surprised into her brown eyes. "That's borderline obsessive don't ya think?"

Ace let a grin cross his face. He looked at Cassie to see that she was smirking at him in a teasing matter.

"Obsessive would have been if I took my time undressing you," he teased. He watched pink sprawl across her cheeks. His Cassie was definitely back.

"Pervert," she pouted. He watched as a serious expression crossed her face as she sat up. "What happened to the deranged prince?"

"He's dead," Ace said. He studied her closely looking for a change in her calm demeanor. She simply ran a hand through her slightly greasy curly hair and made a face at her hand.

"Do you regret it?" Ace asked her quietly. Cassie looked at him to see that he had lowered his head and his shoulders were tensed. "You shouldn't have had to… I should have‒"

"I don't regret it at all," Cassie interrupted him. "You can say that you should have been the one to kill him if you want, but we both know that would be a lie. I had more of a reason to kill him than you. Besides if I wouldn't have killed him no one could possibly imagine how many others he would kill. I think I did the world a favor."

"That may be true," Ace agreed. "However, he upset and threatened you. That's enough reason for me to kill him."

Cassie let out a laugh and ruffled his hair smiling. It was that dazzling smile that she had only shown him a few times before. Her white teeth were bared and her brown eyes held a sparkling smile. It had made him blurt out what he really felt for her and he still felt the same about her.

Ace rummaged around in his pockets for a second and Cassie gave him a questioning look. He pulled a medallion from his pocket and memories flashed before her eyes she instantly knew where it was from and if possible smiled even wider.

"I love you," Ace said putting the medallion around her neck. He placed his forehead against hers. "We're a little young, but if you still feel the same way then later we could get married."

"I will still feel the same way," Cassie said pulling him in for a kiss. He made a mental note of she had avoided saying that she loved him, but he could tell she felt the same way from the way she kissed him and the pink tint to her cheeks.

Soon he closed his eyes and relaxed into the kiss cupping her cheek gently. It didn't remain completely innocent as it slowly became more passionate and she deepened it by pushing her tongue in his mouth. He bit back a groan.

"I should warn you that the walls on this ship are extremely thin," a voice sounded from the doorway. A wide-eyed Cassie saw the captain standing at the doorway with a man beside him.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Cassie shouldn't be doing much until that wound to her shoulder is healed," he informed. "I'm glad to see you awake. You should eat something and have some water. I'll go get it."

The man fled, but not without sending Ace a knowing smirk which left the two in the room with the captain.

"I'd like one of my grandchildren to be named after me," Whitebeard said before disappearing from the room.

He left Cassie and Ace both gaping. The captain's voice had been completely serious. Cassie rolled her eyes. Just what had she gotten herself into?

She noticed a blushing Ace who muttered something in frustration. A half smile crossed her face. She decided in that second it was worth it.

OO00OO

**You can proceed to kill me for being so late to update this story. I can honestly say avoided this chapter like the plague. I enjoyed writing the embarrassing lemon more than this. I just couldn't get this chapter right. I think I have about three different versions of this on my laptop. In my opinion it's still not good enough. The main thing I'm worried about is that Cassie became a Mary-Sue. God I hate those with a burning passion. If I made her one let me know so I won't do it again.**

**I feel the need to tell you that the next arc in the story will contain a ton of OCs and other made up things. It is basically set up to focus more on the weaknesses of Ace and Cassie's relationship as well as their lack of knowledge about each other. My goal is to make you feel slightly annoyed with the characters so be aware of that, but annoyed in a way that's in their character. If I cross that line please let me know and I will correct it. **

**Thanks for reading! Please leave me a review!**

**Thank you to **_**Shingingheart of the ThunderClan, M. Mellow, angelrider13, NamikazeMia, RedneckChick, Lady Syndra, Caramel27, **__**sanzopriestess, scarletlovecharlie, kage kitsune 14, whysoserious00, naruhime**_** for reviewing the story. I am forever in your gratitude for reviewing.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Warnings: Chapter may contain mild language, violence, sexual references, and incest (don't freak out it's implied).**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any piece of One Piece**

**Chapter 9**

Cassie was lying on top of the edge of the boat as usual with the hot sun beating down on her and her eyes closed. She was somewhat thankful that Ace was on a mission with his division otherwise he would be lecturing her about the risk of falling into the ocean. She actually felt like her life had become uneventful ever since she joined Whitebeard and his crew.

Maybe joined wasn't the right word. She wasn't an official member of the crew. She had _politely_ declined the offer saying that she wouldn't pledge loyalty to someone she couldn't always be loyal too. The man had respected her answer, but only after she promised to follow the rules of the ship while in his care. So far she had done just that. And so far she had yet to have anything to do besides train herself.

Cassie outwardly groaned at the thought of training. She absolutely hated it. The majority of the time, the other crew members would be busy, so she was forced to spend her time hitting a bag of rice, and even mentally centering herself. It was a pain and even though she spent her valuable time training she couldn't feel any improvements. At least it was something to do.

The girl could remember how her first two months were spent in recovery. Truthfully she didn't need it, but Ace was being over protective. In a way it was nice, but totally unnecessary. Cassie had proven that she could handle herself in countless situations. Ace was sometimes infuriating, but she still felt lonely whenever he was gone. Honestly, that boy could wreck her perfectly centered mind that she had worked to achieve. Okay so she hadn't gotten that far yet, but she would eventually.

"Cassie," a voice said. She opened a brown eye to see Marco, but closed it showing that she was going to ignore him. "The captain wants to see you. It's rude to ignore people."

Cassie swung her legs back onto the deck and stood up. She looked at him and pouted before sighing. She started to make her way to the captain's office.

"Don't you ever get bored?" Marco asked right before she went under deck.

She merely glanced over her shoulder and smirked before continuing walking. It didn't take her long to reach the office. She didn't bother knocking and just walked in plopping herself down in a chair.

"Do you have any respect for authority?" the captain of the ship asked. She raised an eyebrow giving her answer, he only sighed in response. "How would you like to get off this ship?"

"Do you want me to answer that honestly?" Cassie scoffed. "I'd love it. However, running away from the navy isn't my idea of fun."

"You wouldn't have to worry about that," Whitebeard reassured. "It's an island with a free market economy, so the navy won't linger around for too long. I wouldn't even send you, but since Ace requested your presence I'm making an exception."

"Ah, so it's the mission that Ace said would be so boring," Cassie said. "You're probably just sending me because he's getting discouraged." Cassie watched a smile creep onto the Captain's face. She was so right.

"That and you're gaining weight dear," Whitebeard stated. "You should eat less and work more."

"You're getting old, but I don't point it out," Cassie muttered. "What time do we get there?"

"In about twenty minutes," the captain replied.

"My life is organized I can't stand it." Cassie tried to keep the excitement from her voice. She was happy she could see Ace again. It hadn't been long, but it felt like a life time.

OO00OO

Ace had spotted the familiar ship on the horizon. Soon Cassie would be here with him. It had been a little under a month, but he knew she had changed. She was at the age where she was constantly growing up physically. Mentally, however, she was more mature than most of the adults he knew. She was in no way a child.

He began walking towards the docks of the port. He could tell he had a stupid grin on his face. The people that passed him were giving him a curious look.

The last week had been a little rough for him. Actually, that was an understatement. He had the reappearance of an old crew that he used to be close to. There was more than one reason. He'd managed to stay away from most of them and only meet with the more tolerable and friendly ones.

The sound of a gunshot caught his attention as he say a small dot getting bigger and bigger. He knew immediately that Cassie had launched herself in the air and she was coming at him quick. He made a move to run and catch her, but was surprised when she skidded to a stop a foot away from him.

"You've been practicing," Ace commented. He watched a sly smile come across her face.

"You didn't think I was just sitting around in your absence," she teased. She walked forward to wrap around her arms around his neck, but that never happened.

"Ace!" a big-breasted blonde yelled latching on to him.

The first thing Cassie noticed was how she pressed her breasts a little too close to him. Her figure was that of a goddess. Her long blonde locks and thin well endowed figure was obviously attractive. However, Cassie didn't miss the way she was smirking at her while rubbing it in her face that she was _that_ close to Ace.

"Who is this cute little girl, Ace?" the girl asked. Cassie was applauding her self control for not punching her.

"Holly, this is Cassie," Ace introduced. That was all he said. Cassie was hoping he would at least call her his girlfriend or maybe _fiancé_.

"Are you babysitting new members? She looks a little young to be a pirate," Holly suggested. "Then again you always were very _mature_ for your age. I guess that could be why you're looking after children."

"I'm his fiancé bitch," Cassie stated dryly. Ace felt his jaw go slack at Cassie's rude greeting. She had always had a lack of respect for elders, but never had it shown so quickly.

"Cassie, that was unnecessary," Ace said rubbing his hand on his forehead. Cassie's serious look didn't disappear and neither did the contact between Ace and Holly.

"I always thought you went for older women like me Ace," Holly cut in. "Considering our whole relationship and everything."

Cassie was pissed. It had been a while since she felt that way, but the horrible emotion was back. It was all the subtle little things she would do from the batting of her eyelashes to the way she pressed into Ace.

"You said his type was older not slut," Cassie retorted. "Clearly you're delusional."

"Cassie!" Ace warned. He watched as the blonde slipped from his side.

Cassie noticed how scantily dressed the woman was, but kept her insults to herself as the woman sauntered up to her. Holly was at least four inches taller than Cassie, but that didn't matter here. This was now a fight between women, only pride and intelligence matter now.

"How old are you? Twelve maybe?" Holly teased. "Look at Ace he is a full blown man. At this point I bet you haven't _pleasured_ him at all. Lying on your back hardly counts."

"Well I hate to break to you, but Ace doesn't exactly go for men," Cassie retorted. "Get rid of that thing in between your legs and we can talk."

"He didn't seem to have an issue with it the last time we were together."

Holly felt her eyes go wide at the rush of air around her. She wouldn't have stopped Cassie's punch if Ace hadn't stopped the girl. She had under estimated the other female. She was not the weakling she appeared to be. Holly could still smell the fresh scent of privilege on her.

"What are you doing?" Ace demanded. Cassie snatched her fist back from Ace's grip. "You need to calm down."

"Fine." Cassie said turning her back to him. "See you later, Prince."

The subtle insult hit him like a punch to the gut. He knew what that insult meant, but Holly got an amused look on her face.

"Shouldn't you go after her?" she asked him. Ace took a deep breath before facing her with a serious look.

"If I give her everything she wants it will only spoil her," he answered. "I'm sorry, Holly."

"It was hardly your fault," she replied. "However, you have yet to grow up and understand the mind of a woman. I feel bad for her because I'm not giving up on you."

Ace sighed thinking how he was going to face Cassie later. He thought it would be best to find her after she calmed down. He had seen her angry and he didn't want to press his luck.

OO00OO

Aster sat perched on top of the roof watching the people on the street. The man never got bored with just watching the simpletons walking around totally oblivious to all others around them. He could sometimes laugh at them for their stupidity, especially the women.

How many of them had he tricked? He had lost count years ago when it had become a hobby to him to mess with them. With his gorgeous golden blonde hair that covered one of his innocent looking brown eyes he was a natural born ladies man. His tall thin and toned frame did wonders for him as well. Women trusted him because he had a princely look to him and that's all they wanted was a prince. Who was he to crush their dreams and refuse their wishes? He still left in the end, but seeing the tragic look in their eyes never got boring.

In reality he had left his former crew to become a pirate captain, but unlike all those old fools he chose to search for treasure less obvious. He looked for rare forms of art and like now he was looking for a tomb filled with riches on this worthless island. A lot of the girls he slept with got looks of disgust when he told them who he really was, but he didn't care.

That's when he noticed a girl and he could smell the anger off of her. She was livid and he found it hilarious, until he took a closer look at her. She looked like _that_ woman. She was petite with golden brown skin and long curly chocolate hair, but it wasn't as untamed as the other woman's. She wore a green shirt with a box neckline that revealed just enough cleavage to be tasteful as well as a corset around her waist. Black shorts revealed most of her thin legs and delectable thighs. He noticed that her black boots had heels on them, but she would still be small compared to his tall frame. Just looking at her made his heart race.

He let a smirk cross his face noticing the gun strapped to her leg. She was dangerous he could tell. The subtle confidence in her step and the powerful stomp as her foot hit the ground. With the skimpy way she dressed she had to be a pirate, but there was something off about her.

Her posture was perfect; he couldn't spot anything wrong with her. Her back was perfectly arced and her hips swayed just the right amount. She was classy, but tempting somehow. Had she had money? Maybe she fell from power and was forced to take on the life of a pirate.

He doubted it though. There wasn't any way she would be so confident if that was the case. Besides, she looked too rough around the edges to be anything of the higher class. She had years of light muscle on her body that kept it toned and the gun was not for beginners. She had been practicing for years.

This was the first time he felt the need to go after someone so strongly. Aster was a smart man. He knew this situation was dangerous, but who could blame him for coming to a beautiful girl's rescue.

As she reached in front of him he dropped off the building's roof landing in front of her. He was right; she was short compared to him. He had to physically turn his head down to look at her face.

He was surprised at the wrath her beautiful brown eyes held. She had stopped and was scowling at him full on. He was pretty amused and couldn't help, but let out a chuckle.

"Out of my way," she ordered. She clearly wasn't going to budge.

"I like being in your way," Aster responded. "I only came to comfort you. You seem so angry. It would be a sin to leave one as beautiful as you in distress."

"So is murder, but I'm close to committing it," she retorted. "Now move."

He gave her a cocky smirk. The girl was really to amusing. He was going to have fun with her. Aster got extreme pleasure in turning the most headstrong of girls into submissive messes.

"How about you give me your name instead," Aster insisted.

He was surprised when she launched a kick towards his head leaping through the air. He caught her ankle in the middle of its assault, turning the girl upside down. She placed her hands just barely on the ground bending her back to get away from him and he let her go. His let out a chuckle. The girl was flexible, this was just perfect.

"Asshole," she muttered darkly. "I really wasn't in the mood for this shit."

"I'm Aster, can't you tell me your name babe?" he asked. "Or I could just keep calling you babe, but you hardly seem like the type to care for cute nicknames. How about Princess?"

This time he didn't even notice her movement. It was like she was the wind. The impact to his stomach caused him to let out a groan of pain. He was slightly annoyed now. It was amazing that a woman could land a hit on him. This was going to be exciting.

"Never call me that _peasant_," She sneered. "To you it's your majesty."

She was quick to start attacking him again. He started dancing around her attacks and it was clear that the girl was getting frustrated. He let out a bark of laughter. She seemed adorable when angry. If he wasn't mistaken she was pouting.

Aster noticed the attention both of them were drawing from the people passing by. Although he liked watching people he didn't like having to be near them. With the next hit she sent at him he grabbed her wrist and easily tossed her light body down an alley.

"Sorry my cousin gets a little bit cranky," he said before going the direction he threw her.

The second he was out of sight the girl was attacking him again, but this time he wasn't putting up with it. He grabbed both her wrists in a painful grip and he noticed her wince. However, the pained look on her face when he trapped her between the wall and his body was even better. She still looked beautiful with a small layer of sweat and her chest heaving up and down. It was a nice b-cup, she was young still it could become a c-cup.

"You're not as angry now," he stated. He could tell that she was more annoyed at herself than angry now. "I told you I would comfort you." She let out a bitter laugh.

"Comfort my ass," she spat out. "You're just trying to seduce me. Make me trust you, but I'm not that foolish."

He pressed closer to her feeling her body more against his. He lifted her up and made her legs separate, so that she was straddling his stomach. He leaned close to her ear to whisper to her.

"I'm stronger than you. I could just take what I want. So why would I bother seducing you?"

"You seriously underestimate me. Besides you wouldn't do that."

"Oh really?" He pulled back, so he could look into her eyes. He felt himself grin at seeing the analyzing look in them.

"I knew a guy like you. He got sick pleasure at seeing people submit to him by all means necessary. It would pointless for you to do anything. It wouldn't be as satisfying to your ego," she informed.

He couldn't help it. He was full out laughing at her correct deduction. He let the girl down moving away from her to clutch at his stomach. It had been a long time since he laughed like that.

"You are different aren't you?" he asked the girl standing in front of him indifferently. "Who are you really?"

"My name is Cassondra," she replied. "Be happy I took mercy on you. If you see me again don't talk to me. I have no interest in pigs like you."

Aster watched with a smile on his face as Cassie exited the alley. Oh this was going to be the best chase yet for him.

OO00OO

Ace was frantically searching for Cassie. He had heard about the fight in town and how the girl fighting resembled her. He was just hoping that she wasn't drunk. She was extremely violent while in her intoxicated state and that wouldn't be good for anyone.

He was running down streets when he noticed a familiar figure standing in front of a flower shop. She was looking into the window and Ace could tell her face held a thoughtful look from the reflection in the glass window.

He walked up slowly behind her. She didn't even flinch as he placed his hands on her shoulders. He could tell she knew exactly who he was. He was happy that she wasn't pulling away from him. It meant that she wasn't angry at him.

"Why are you staring into a flower store?" he asked. He felt her sigh.

"I was looking at the lilies," Cassie replied. "They seem to relax me now more than anything. I'm sorry that I lost my temper."

"I'm sorry that I made you jealous," Ace replied.

Cassie whipped around towards him and Ace could see the pink on her cheeks and smiled. She was so cute when she was embarrassed. How could he think of anyone else when she was like this?

He wrapped her in his arms. Surprising her, but she soon hugged him back.

"Glad to have you here," Ace said.

"Happy to be back," Cassie mumbled into the hug. "However, I'm exhausted. We should get back to your division."

"Of course," Ace said. He pulled back grabbing her hand in his.

OO00OO

"You know we could have gotten you your own room," Ace told Cassie.

Cassie was smiling with her eyes closed on his bed in the current ship they were using. She seemed totally relaxed though.

"I know the walls are just as thin as on the main ship," Cassie said. "It's just I'm more relaxed when you're around."

Ace smiled and turned his back to her and started changing. Things were back to normal even with the fight. Their old relationship was back. Ace was just surprised at how much she had changed from before. Cassie was constantly growing both mentally and physically.

"Hey," Ace addressed turning back around.

Cassie was fast asleep and breathing deeply. She was sleeping peacefully, he didn't want to move her. The only problem was that she was still taking up the whole bed. He gently rolled her over to one side noticing the bruises on her wrists again.

Cassie had two almost identical bruises that looked like she was gripped hard. It was probably from the fight she got into earlier. No matter what questions Ace asked, Cassie had skillfully dodged answering all of them. It was clear that she didn't want to talk about it, but that didn't mean he didn't want to know what happened. She was stronger than before and using a little bit of her devil fruit powers no longer fazed her.

He crawled into bed with her and wrapped his arms protectively around her. It felt good to have her around again. He could lecture her about getting into fights tomorrow. He only did because he had to. He was the leader of the division and he didn't like making people risk their lives for him or anything else. He and Cassie were similar in that respect.

He watched with affection as she rolled over and embraced him with her arms unconsciously. He was definitely going to protect what he loved.

OO00OO

"You were a little rough tonight," Holly purred from her position on top of Aster. "What had you so frustrated?"

"Aren't I always rough?" Aster replied. "Besides I wasn't frustrated, just excited. I think you were the only one frustrated. Who else would jump their cousin so easily?"

"You're my second cousin," she corrected. "Besides pleasure doesn't discriminate unlike you. I'm frustrated, but you don't care why."

"I have to say I'm a little curious," Aster said leaning up on his elbows. "A few weeks ago you were on a mood high from Ace showing up again. This drastic change in attitude shocked me. However, I never complain when women come to me themselves."

"The little boy suddenly thinks he's a man," Holly snapped. "He got a fiancé! Can you believe it! It's just so ridiculous that I'm pissed."

"That's why you're mad?" he grunted. "How stupid. We both know you're just going to claim back your _territory_. Women are such petty creatures."

"If you think I'm petty you should have seen the baby of a fiancé. God she was just a child. She lost her temper so easily and Ace defended me. I think he still has feelings for me."

"If I remember correctly you had a sexual relationship not an emotional one." Aster looked into the girls blue eyes. "I hope you don't torture her too much. Don't kill her either I want to pick up the pieces when you're finished."

"I don't think I could. There was something special about her. She almost decked me in the face. She was strong, but immature in some ways. So why are you so excited?"

That led Aster to the thoughts of Cassondra and her tiny, but developed body. It could be her modestly sized breasts instead of the over grown ones pressing against him now. All the things he could teach her naïve little mind. He could teach her true pleasure.

The thought of her being a virgin and him taking that away from her excited him. A strong woman under him being submissive wasn't exactly a rare occurrence, but he'd love it anyway.

"Wow," Holly stated. "She must really be something to have you up again. I look forward to seeing you capture your next mark."

"Whatever," Aster said flipping her on her back. "You have other things to focus on right now."

OO00OO

**So this is a little shy of how long the chapters usually are, but I hope that's okay with you guys. Honestly I'm a little appalled at myself for writing this. Aster took on a totally different character than expected, but I really like writing dark characters. Also I apologize for having the focus not really set on Ace and Cassie, but trust me you're going to want to figure these characters out. I also apologize for my pervert like nature. I'm so proud of myself for thinking like a player though… The next chapter is focused more on Cassie and Ace so get ready to find out the whole point of this arc.**

**Thank you for reading!**

**Thank you to whysoserious00, Sanzopriestess, Lady Syndra, Shiningheart of ThunderClan, Caramel27, RedneckChick, and Diclonious57 for reviewing.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Warnings: this chapter will contain language, mild sexual activities, and mild violence**

**Disclaimer: Just in case you were wondering I don't own One Piece**

**Chapter 10**

Cassie woke up with a light kiss to her cheek. She rolled over stretching out her limbs to see Ace smiling at her. He was fully clothed. Well, fully clothed for Ace anyway.

"Get ready and grab some breakfast," he said. "We have work to do."

"I actually have to work," Cassie groaned. "I didn't sign up for this."

"Yes you did." Ace leaned half way onto the bed to move her unruly hair out of her face. "I think you need a shower."

"I think I need more Ace," Cassie said tugging him onto the bed.

Neither of them wasted time and crashed their lips together. It didn't take long for the kiss to escalate when Cassie ran her tongue over Ace's bottom lip asking for entrance. He surprised her by becoming the dominate one and moving fully onto the bed. She moved a hand to tangle into his black hair finding it softer than before. Then he stopped kissing her.

"You should get ready," he said pulling away from her. He was out of the room before she could say anything.

Cassie took in a deep breath trying to calm herself. It always turned out like this now.

Ace couldn't seem to bring himself to touch her anymore. One second he was all for it, the next she was a thin porcelain doll that could break at any second. It was so frustrating to her that the male in this relationship had his hormones under control. From what she was told this should be happening the other way around.

Cassie crawled out of the bed and entered the small bathroom. From her knowledge of the ship it didn't actually contain any showers, she would have to go to a public bath for that. It had the basics for water though thanks to a beautiful blue bucket.

She managed to get her hair in a ponytail that seemed to look all right. Usually she wore it down, but there was no reason to now. While brushing it back she noticed the bruises on her wrist. They looked like they hurt, but they didn't.

That made her think about Aster the man who had given them to her. He had to be older than Ace he looked mature. He was good looking, but he gave off the same pompous feeling nobleman did. That was not a good thing. Cassie vaguely hoped she would never meet him again. He had tossed her around like it was nothing. He was not someone that should be made into an enemy.

Cassie sighed, she had some money maybe she could buy a long sleeve blouse instead of a short sleeved one. It would be smart to have one just in case anyway.

She left the room making her way onto the deck where breakfast would be served. No doubt it would already be filled with hungry crew members hoping to eat a nice meal before doing their daily work. Some would stay back and monitor the ship, while others would go out to search for the tomb of an ancient king of the island. His tomb supposedly contains a treasure that has about ten times the amount of the ruby necklace Cassie previously owned. That was some serious treasure.

She walked onto the deck and noticed a few familiar faces. A lot of the members were from Thatch's division and weren't familiar to them. Cassie was surprised that nothing had been found out about the location yet. The leaders here were fairly intelligent, so it shouldn't have taken so long. The island wasn't as small as Ruby Island, but it wasn't large by any standard either.

Cassie entered the line and got her food silently searching for Ace. When he noticed her a familiar grin crossed his face as he waved to her. Cassie let a small smile come across her face, some things never change. She felt relief just by seeing that smile. She made her way to sit down next to him. As soon as she sat down he planted a kiss on her cheek and she giggle.

She briefly reprimanded herself for giggling. Cassie was not a giggling girl, but somehow Ace just made her want to giggle.

"So what exactly are we doing today?" Cassie asked. Ace scratched the back of his neck. That meant she would be upset at what he was going to say.

"Well…" he trailed off. "I'm going off with the rest of the crew to continue looking for the tomb and you're…"

"I'm what?" she demanded. She hated when he didn't say what he wanted to. As cute as it was he should just say what he wants.

"I actually brought you here for a purpose," Ace stated. "You know how you were talking about knowing a lot of different languages. Well a lot of books that contain information about the tomb are in languages we can't read or translate." He paused noticing the disappointment that flickered in her brown eyes. "So I need you to go to the library and read some history books."

"I'm no genius," Cassie informed. "However, I will try my best."

Ace smiled weakly at her. Lately he felt like such a jerk. First he accepted this mission and he wasn't sure if Cassie knew he had the option not to take it. Then as soon as she gets here they got into a fight and she ran away. Now he was sending her away from him.

"There's an ice-cream place by the library," Ace said, drawing her attention. "I'll try my best to be there around one o'clock."

"That's fine I guess," Cassie sighed. "Where exactly is this library?"

"About two blocks down on the main cross road," Ace answered. He watched her stand up.

"I'm heading there now," Cassie said. "It's probably going to take a while."

Ace watched as she hopped over the side of the ship and ran into the town. Had he not known her he would have said she was angry, but she was actually excited. He knew she liked to hide it from him. In a way it was cute he just wished she would smile a little more.

OO00OO

"What the hell am I doing?" Ace whispered to himself. He was currently supervising the digging of a suspected area of the tomb site. So far they had found nothing, but that was becoming a daily routine.

"I don't know, but you look like hell," Thatch said patting him on the back. "You actually look worse than you did a few days ago. Is Cassie distracting you from your work?"

"Not in the way you're implying," Ace muttered. He could hear the teasing tone that the other pirate had.

"Then why do you look so troubled? If you keep thinking that hard you'll fry what little brain you have left."

"It's just that…" Ace trailed off. Thatch watched as Ace seemed to choose his next words carefully. "She's young."

"So are you so I don't see the problem," he replied to Ace quickly. "Besides Cassie has more intelligence than some who are double her age. You're worrying about the wrong things."

"Am I really?" Ace questioned. "We're young she could fall in love with another. I'm a pirate and could die leaving her all alone. All the endings I think of don't end well for one or both parties. Cassie wasn't supposed to live on a ship or have to run from the navy. She was a princess, for God's sake."

"She's acting more like a pirate than you are right now," Thatch stated. "I have no idea why you're treating her like she's glass. The girl has never been weak. I remember her being daring enough to jump onto a ship belonging to a great pirate captain and trash it. She killed a man who was maintaining a super empire and most importantly she lived with a family of all women. That must have been hell."

"Well she's at the age where she should…" Ace didn't want to finish it.

He was not going to finish that sentence with _experimenting_ like he wanted to. When he was seventeen he was bed hopping for older women, which had taught him a great deal. However, it wasn't without consequences. He had accidentally broken up a marriage and some had lingering attachments. Holly, who was a friend, was one of them and he regretted it. He would never change it, but he still felt guilty.

Cassie had been so pure and innocent, until he came along. He'd been trouble and yet she accepted him. Sure she had a devil fruit, but she could have lived on without ever having to use it. She could be married to someone of her class and stay at her home. She was living a life of uncertainty for him that was what made him feel guilty.

"You were wilder than most in their teenage days," Thatch agreed. "However, you're still in your teenage days. As for worrying about Cassie going to someone else I wouldn't worry. She has that unbelievable loyalty. She's only leaving if you screw something up, big time."

"I guess you're right, but I feel like I'm doing something wrong," Ace muttered. "What exactly does a girl want in a relationship?"

"In Cassie's case I'd guess loyalty. She wants your effort and quite possibly your comfort. Men tend to over complicate women and that's when they get into trouble. Here's a good rule. Always apologize first. Always. Try a romantic gesture or something."

Ace broke into a grin he could practically here Cassie's pleased sarcasm. She liked to pretend that she didn't like something and it was rather cute. The best moments were when she got embarrassed.

"Send someone to Cassie at the ice-cream place," Ace said. "I think I have an evening to prepare for."

That was all Ace said as he stood up and walked away. He left the older man smiling proud of him.

OO00OO

Cassie was not a happy person.

She was never a sugar and rainbow type of girl, but right now there was a twenty percent chance of death for the next stupid person that talked to her.

She had spent the morning search through books and decoding the different languages. That alone had taken a long time. That wasn't it though the books and journals were all full of riddles.

Cassie decided that if she ever had treasure she would give it away in her will. This hell of boring reading was not worth wishing on anyone. To top it all off Ace was no longer meeting her for lunch. He was currently engaged in important activities.

She was now eating ice-cream alone, outside, on a busy street. She must look like a lonely girl just waiting for her prince. Well her prince currently though some dead guy's belongings were more important than her.

She sighed before getting up keeping her ice-cream and books she had. Intent on making her way to the beach. It wouldn't be good for the books, but it's not like anyone had touched them in ages. More than likely she would spend the afternoon tying up loose ends. People kept looking at the bruises on her wrists and quite frankly they still pissed her off.

When Cassie reached the beach she looked out at the ocean. It was almost as blue as Alayna's eyes. Since she was stationary she would have to send a letter to her sister to see how things were going. The last she heard her sister and was courting with an unlikely party. Who would have guessed Jack knew what courting was or maybe she should say he allowed Alayna to court him?

Cassie sighed looking at the waves as the rolled onto the sandy beach. She pulled off her boots once she sat down. She had made sure to select a place where no one would disturb her. She released her curly mane from its ponytail letting it blow in the wind.

This was one of the few times she could enjoy silence. She had tuned out everything around her. She had even managed to tune out her own thinking. Centering herself and bending into the environment around her.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Cassie felt her whole body go rigid. Of all the fucking people it had to be this bitch. That blonde haired bimbo had to wreck her quiet place.

"I'm relaxing," Cassie answered. She hadn't even bothered to open her eyes. She would have seen the dissatisfied face Holly was making.

Holly had expected the younger girl to lash out at her or maybe just insult her. This calm and collected persona didn't fit the girl physically, but it somehow wasn't totally out of place. This girl was interesting to say the least, it would be fun to provoke her.

"You look stupid like that," Holly stated.

"Well, at least I'm not actually stupid like you," Cassie replied. She still looked calm. "Is there a reason that you're talking to me?"

"I've slept with Ace." Holly smirked as the girl snapped her brown eyes at her and a scowl came across her somewhat childish face.

"I'm sure for someone like you it would be easier to list those who you haven't slept with," Cassie sneered. "If you have something intelligent to say do it and leave."

"You sure are commanding. I thought I'd warn you I'm serious about Ace, so be ready for it. We could settle this now. A simple swimming contest would be good enough."

Cassie narrowed her eyes. There was no way Holly knew she would drown in the ocean. The girl was clever, but in a more manipulative way than intelligent one.

"Sorry, but that would be like suicide not knowing the area and currents," Cassie replied. "I'll get back to you on that one. I'd actually prefer to kick your ass, but if you want to take a nonviolent approach I'm okay with it."

Holly couldn't help the grin on her face, a challenge. She would admit she enjoyed watching the crushed expressions of women who had men stolen from them. Lately no one had even put up a fight.

"Very well be prepared then," Holly answered. "I hope to see you around, Cassie."

"Bitch," Cassie whispered under her breath. She turned and frowned at the stack of books. Her ice-cream was melted and gone. Damn her.

OO00OO

Aster had been minding in his business when he spotted a familiar head of black hair.

"Ace!" Aster called. Ace turned around and shot him a grin.

His former crew had interacted with Ace while he was still new to Whitebeard's crew. He had introduced Ace to the wilder side of things, but alas he had chosen to stay tame. Aster graciously chose not to hold it against him.

"Aster? I take it that means you're actually working with your crew," Ace said with a grin.

"Hardly," Aster deadpanned. "I simply watch over things about once every week. I'm a captain I have a crew for that shit."

"You're just like I remember you," Ace said to the older man. "Did you grow?"

"Yes actually," Aster answered. Then a thought came into his mind and a smirk slithered across his face. "So you're engaged? I'd like to hear all about that."

Oh god, Aster wanted to puke. Ace had brought his hand to scratch the back of his head and a blush tinted his cheeks. It was utterly disgusting. This woman must be the root of all evil. Most were fine just a little idiotic, the ones men had to worry about were the ones who wanted commitment.

"Yeah I will be eventually," Ace replied. "We're waiting a little while because we're still young. Hey look I got to go, but see you around."

Aster waved to Ace's back watching the boy run off. Aster could only think he was an idiot. Most people were idiotic that's why he'd avoid them.

He walked away to the beach shore hoping to escape the noise and stupidity of the people around him. He had often come to spend time walking along this island's shores when he wasn't people watching.

It wasn't long until he spotted a familiar figure in the distance. He seemed to be luck to spot the princess in the distance. She looked like she was immersed in her thoughts. As he walked closer he saw her boots were off her feet as she stood deep enough in the water to tickle the beginning of her calves.

A glorious idea popped into his head. If her green blouse was wet he could see all that's underneath. He licked his lips at the thought. He slowly and silently made his way to her. Surprisingly she was lost in her thoughts making it easier to get close to her. When he reached her back he pushed her down without delay.

He turned around to run away expecting her to be chasing after him, but all he heard was splashing. He turned around to see her flailing her arms around and trying to gasp for air in about a foot of water. He laughed at her until all of her motion stopped and he noticed her body sinking, not floating.

He rushed to her and pulled her out seeing her eyes closed as he lifted her and carried her to the beach. He set her down and checked her pulse seeing it was still there. Cassondra wasn't breathing though.

Aster took his hands and placed them together on her chest. He gave a few pumps and saw nothing happened. He tipped her head back, plugged her nose, and gave her one breath. He watched her chest start to move and she rolled to her side coughing out sea water.

"What the hell were you thinking?" she sneered at him.

"That you could swim in a foot of water," Aster answered with a smirk. "So I was right you are special."

Cassie felt her body go rigid. He knew. He was smarter than she thought he was. The way his brown eyes looked at her was predatory. He liked control and as far as he knew he had it.

"I'm sorry that I was breathing when you pushed me?" she asked. "I took a deep breath of sea water."

"No you didn't," he stated. "You're a devil fruit user. Probably something to do with air or speed. That would explain why you were able to attack so strongly every now and then. Now the only question is why you're here?"

"That is your business," she growled out.

"It is," he teased. "I know I seem like a good person, but I'm not above tipping off the navy. So how about a drink?"

He loved the fire that was burning in her eyes as they pierced through him. It had been a while since he saw such a look of hatred. The girl was still very exciting.

OO00OO

"I refuse to have alcohol," Cassie repeated, for about the tenth time that night. Aster just wouldn't stop offering it to her. She had been forced to sit on a bar stool for around four hours as he flirted with women. There was no point in her being her at all.

"Why won't you have just one little drink?" he pressed.

"I'm under aged," Cassie replied curtly. She watched as his bright smile wavered slightly as she realized something. "Ha! You thought I was older."

"I did how old are you then," Aster admitted. Cassie tried to keep the happiness of being mistaken for being older from showing on her face.

"I'm seventeen," Cassie answered. "And you?"

"I'm twenty-three," Aster replied. He noticed her surprised look. "I know my skins amazing."

Cassie gave the man a suspicious look saying that she didn't believe him. She was not stupid she knew he wanted something from her. She didn't know what, but everyone makes mistakes. She would just have to wait until he made one.

"You want to know why you're here," Aster mused out loud. He watched as Cassie glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. "I have nothing to hide. I'll tell you. I plan on breaking you into submission. I'll push you to until you practically worship me and then I'll leave you. You'll be lost and all alone. That is my livelihood."

"That's cool," Cassie stated. "I hate to tell you this, but I'm actually famous for not being submissive. If I ever do become submissive be ready for that plan of yours to back fire. I am not a stupid helpless woman with low self esteem. I happen to have a solid support system also known as a fiancé. If you want to take that away be prepared to die."

He surprised her by laughing. He looked like that was the funniest thing anyone had ever told him. Aster was completely pissing her off. The smirk he gave her when he finished made her eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

"That will just make this more interesting," he said moving closer to her. Cassie could feel his breath on her neck as he began to whisper to her. "I don't lose _ever_. Before you know it you will be withering in true ecstasy underneath me. Something your fiancé will never be able to give you. You can leave now."

He had expected to see a look of shock on her face when he pulled back from her, but the only thing he saw in her brown eyes was determination. She left strutting at the door without a glance behind her.

She was playing hard to get, but he, like any other predator, loved the chase.

OO00OO

"Ace, are you still mad?" Cassie whined following behind him.

She was touched by the romantic gesture he had made. However, she showed up late with a not to happy Ace waiting for her. He had been worried sick about her and was close to sending out a search group.

"I mean it isn't that late," she argued.

"That's not why I'm mad," Ace said entering his bedroom with Cassie close behind him. "You lied to me I can tell. You are certainly not careless enough to fall asleep on a beach where the tide would raise around five drowning you. You're lying to me."

Cassie cursed in her head. She had forgotten about the rising tide on this island. It was the one flaw in her story. What was she supposed to say? _By the way, Ace, I have this crazy, handsome guy stalking me trying to hump and dump me_. Yeah, she wasn't going to tell him that.

"You don't trust me at all do you," Cassie said sighing. "Look, it would be easier if you would tell me what you're thinking."

"That you might find someone else." Cassie had barely caught what he said. He sat down on the edge of his bed with his hands in fists. She could see the tension through his body.

She moved to crouch in front of him on her knees. She wasn't used to it. Considering she used to be royalty she was taught not to bow her head to those of lower rank than her. She lightly placed her hands over his trying to relieve the tension in them.

"I saw Holly again today," Cassie said, catching his attention. "I got mad all over again. I needed some time to think. I'm sorry. Sometimes I just feel like I'm not good enough for you."

Ace looked her surprised to see the vulnerability in her eyes. She was sincere and how could he resist her being so cute?

"We make quite the couple don't we?" Ace said with a laugh. "We're both afraid of the other leaving even though they never will."

Cassie looked at him and sent him that stunning real smile. It was like he was falling in love all over again. He pulled her up into a kiss, quickly flipping her under him. The kiss turned heated and he pulled away. He heard whimper in protest as he trailed kisses down her gorgeous neck.

As soon as he found her pulse he nipped at it and licked it in apology. He started sucking on it and pulled a moan from her. Before Cassie could say anything he moved from over her leaving her on her back with him lying on his side facing away from her.

"Think of this as your punishment," Ace said to her. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight you stupid tease," Cassie complained. She wrapped her arms around his waist waiting for sleep to claim her.

OO00OO

**This got done a lot sooner than usual. Probably because I'm going through a pissed off mood and I relieve stress by writing, or in this case pounding the keys on my poor, innocent keyboard. Oh well, like I always say stupidity is the world's worst disease. Hopefully some people in my life get over it.**

**Next chapter you can expect to see… well I don't know. I haven't decided what to do with it. I'm guessing it will take longer to get out than usual. I'd love some reviews that point things out or have suggestions. Thanks for reading!**

_**Thank you to Lady Syndra(Love your new picture btw. I almost died), my lovely guest, Caramel27, girls-luv-manga, RedneckChick, Shiningheart of ThunderClan, and kid23jk7 for your reviews.**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Warnings: This chapter contains language, mild violence, sexual content, and cat fights ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece**

**Chapter 11**

Cassie woke to a small stream of sunlight right in her eyes. She noticed Ace was gone, but he usually woke up early in the morning. The bed was still warm, so he hadn't been gone long. She rolled out of bed and quickly found the one of the set of clothes Ace had found her. She ignored the baggy pants and kept her shorts on, but put on a long green sleeve blouse on. She then fastened a black patterned corset on. She quickly found her boots and slipped them on. Not bothering with her hair she pulled it into a tight high-ponytail before shoving her trusty hand gun into her belt.

She walked to the ship's deck, ignoring the looks some of the crew gave her. Being herself, she was convinced it was from her beauty, not. Maybe she had something on her face, she hadn't checked.

The first person to spot her on deck was Thatch. He greeted her with a smile that turned into a grin.

"Cassie," he said, walking to her. "It would be a smart idea to put your hair down."

"Why?" Cassie asked raising an eyebrow. He pointed to her neck.

"Ace, was trying to get free advertising," he replied. He watched a few emotions flicker through her face. He had to keep himself from laughing when her eyebrow twitched.

"Ace!" Cassie yelled, searching for the pirate. She quickly ran to him ignoring that he was with another crew member.

Ace noticed her coming a little too late when her foot connected with his jaw. He could see the anger in her eyes, but also the blush on her face from embarrassment. He couldn't help, but grin at her.

"You idiot!" she screamed. "How could you…"

"How could I what?" Ace teased moving closer to her. He watched as she tried to sputter out words. "Just keeping the stalkers away from you."

"What?" Cassie asked, wide eyed. She could tell Ace was studying her.

"It was a joke, relax," he told her. "We have to have a meeting with Thatch."

He grabbed her hand and she locked her fingers around his. He smiled at her before frowning. She had freed her hair from the ponytail. She gave him a look that said _just try me_. He laughed nervously before a half smile returned to his face.

"I take it you two are good then?" Thatch asked the couple. By Ace's smile and Cassie's sigh he could tell they were. "So let's get down to business."

"Did you find anything out, Cassie?" Ace asked her.

"No I spent the whole day digging useless holes," Cassie replied. "Wait that was you guys. You have been looking in the wrong place entirely. You have been digging holes vertically when you need to dig them horizontally like a cave. In ancient times this island was famous for their tomb like graves. The tradition now is only reserved for nobility."

"I see," Thatch muttered. "Any idea where it is yet?" Cassie shook her head.

"I haven't found anything right now," Cassie informed. "However, I intend to do more research today. I suggest you stop digging around. The gods of this island will curse you."

"The gods of this island," Ace repeated. "Do you believe that?"

"Consider me neutral." Cassie shrugged her shoulders. "Just on the off chance that it's true I'd rather not have them pissed off at me." She gave them both a smile.

"I'm sure the men will be glad that they get a day off," Thatch said with a smile. "I'll go make the announcement. Does that mean you're going to the library?"

"Yep," Cassie replied. "I'll see you when I see you."

Cassie started walking away before she noticed Ace was following her. She tried to keep the smile off her face, but that didn't fool Ace. He could see a spring in her step and how she seemed relaxed. He was then positive he was the only one who could cause her to be so happy.

OO00OO

"How do you understand all of this?" Ace asked Cassie. She looked up from one of the books in front of her. He had spent most of the time staring at her curiously wondering how this serious girl was Cassie.

"First I translate the book from the original language into this book that converts it to its neighboring island's language," Cassie explained. "From there I can translate it into our language. It's not complicated, but rather a meticulous task."

"That's more than any of us could do…" He caught the amused look on her face as she jotted something down. "Why do you know all those things anyway?"

"I had to study a lot in my younger days," Cassie replied. "Instead of being the average child who refused to study I decided to fully embrace it. I have always liked reading, but I abhor science and philosophy. I figured the more I did of everything the sooner I would be done with it. Turns out I was right. I was done with most of my schooling before I met you."

"What part do you still have left?"

"For girls proper etiquette is a subject." Cassie kindly ignored his snort. At least he was trying to hold back his laughter, unlike a certain girl she had recently met. That reminded her. "Would you be upset if I got in a fight for you?"

"Depends on what it's for," Ace stated. "If it's for my love it's pretty pointless because you already have most of it."

"Most of it?" Cassie narrowed her eyes as Ace's grin increased.

"I happen to have a little brother." Cassie raised her eyebrow at him. "I left him back on the island when I left to become a pirate. Maybe you'll meet him one day. Although, I have to warn you that he's nothing like me."

"Most people aren't." Cassie closed one of the books she had in front of her and leaned back in her chair. "What if I got in a fight over you?"

"It depends upon what it's about again. Why ask?"

"I'm just making sure that we settle our jealousy. So if you ever get jealous and fight I have a standard to hold you to."

"That's just like you." He tapped his fingers on the wooden table in front of him. "So want to go get some ice-cream?"

"I was waiting for you to ask," Cassie said getting up. "I wonder what flavor I should get."

"I got this," Ace said wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I know exactly what flavor you'll like."

About ten minutes later the two of them were sitting outside the place where they had bought the "food of gods" as Cassie called it. Ace looked at her happily licking her cherry ice-cream before he bit back a groan. Lately he was becoming so frustrated and Cassie clearly had no idea about it.

"I see you're babysitting today," a voice said. Both of them glanced to the side to see Holly. Ace smiled weakly in reply, but Cassie just glared.

"Are you ready for our little contest?" she teased. The girl just flipped her hair at Holly. She saw a mark on Cassie's neck and it was obvious what it was, if the other girl's smirk was any indication.

"What contest?" Ace asked looking between them. Both girls looked at him sighing at his obvious obliviousness.

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I vaguely agreed to it," Cassie said taking another lick of her ice-cream.

"You know you're attitude is annoying," Holly said crossing her arms. "You need stop acting like a little princess and grow up." Before Holly could continue the cherry flavored food had landed on her face. As soon as she swiped it away from her eyes she met fierce chocolate brown eyes. They seemed dark, determined, and much too mature for the girl in front of her.

"Call me that one more time and I will stop being nice," Cassie told her. Ace looked at her, but kept quiet. He saw that familiar glimmer in her eyes. Even if he wanted to stop her he couldn't, and if he wanted to complain he couldn't. He was the exact same way.

"What are you going to do about it?" Holly pressed. "_Princess_."

The girl barely had any time to take a step back as Cassie rushed towards her. The look in her eyes was almost terrifying. She was throwing hits at her fast. The only person she had ever had this much trouble fighting was her cousin.

Cassie sent a perfect hit to her stomach knocking the other girl back as she crumpled to the ground. Cassie noticed the people gathering while Holly coughed trying to regain her bearing. She looked up at her with fierce blue eyes, but Cassie merely huffed in reply.

"Who the fuck are you?" Holly asked getting up.

"To you I'm you're fucking majesty," Cassie answered. "Are we done or do you want me to hit you again?"

Cassie got her answer as the girl raised her fists. Ready to fight again. Cassie charged at her again. They locked into a fight before Holly launched a carefully thought out spin kick to the girl's back. It should have hit her no problem. It looked like it hit her, anyone watching would say it did, but Holly knew better. Holly knew this girl had managed to escape her kick. The only question was how she had managed to do that.

OO00OO

Ace watched the two girls in front of him as they fought it out with each other. He figured it was better to let it run its course than let the tension build between the two girls. Maybe they could be adults with each other and let it go after they hit each other a bit. He was observing Cassie with interest though.

She had improved since the last time he had seen her fight. He would admit he hadn't seen much. However, the girl had become a fearsome opponent, especially with her surprisingly different attitude. He'd have to watch that carefully.

"I thought you were attached," a voice said from behind him. He turned to see Aster. "I admit they both have nice bodies, but please your fiancé would be jealous."

"She wouldn't, considering she's one of them," Ace replied. He watched shock flicker across Aster's face. "Seems like her and Holly have issues."

"Ace what's your fiancés full name?" Aster asked not taking his eyes off of the girls.

"Cassondra Hart," Ace answered. "Why?"

"No reason, but that makes things more interesting for me," Aster replied. "When do you plan on stopping them?"

"When and if someone pulls out a weapon." Ace frowned. "I think Cassie might just be playing with her, or trying to piss her off. I can never tell with her."

"I'm sorry, but I was actually looking for Holly. I think it's time for me to break this up."

With that said Aster gracefully jumped between the two girls. Both immediately stopped their attacks and narrowed their eyes at him. Holly's face was in more of a snarl while Cassie's had an indifferent look to hers.

"Aster what do you need?" Holly asked. "I'm a little busy teaching a kid a lesson."

"If you count showing me what not to do then she's right," Cassie added. "Get out of the way."

Cassie tried to move around him, but he caught her arm. She stopped abruptly to look up at him and glare. He only smirked down at her in reply. She noticed that Ace was watching how the two of them interacted with each other. She snatched her arm out of his grip and stood still.

"Holly, you're needed at the excavation site." The shift in Holly was obvious as she sighed. "Now."

It was a clear order and surprisingly Holly followed it, leaving without a word to anyone. Cassie watched her leave until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Cassie I would like you to meet Aster," Ace introduced. His usual grin was the only thing that kept her from unleashing a sarcastic retort.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Aster teased. He took Cassie's hand and kissed it. He would be lying if he said he didn't like the disgusted look in her eyes. "Why don't I treat you both to something more substantial than ice-cream? You're both still growing after all."

"Of course as long as you're really going to pay." Cassie once again kept her mouth shut just because of the happy grin on Ace's face.

OO00OO

Cassie was uncomfortable to say the least. Aster just kept asking her and Ace questions. She felt obligated to answer all of them because of the ecstatic male next to her. Ace probably held some respect for Aster. She had no idea why though.

"So Cassie where are you originally from?" Aster asked.

"My mother." Ace sighed at the curt reply, but Aster seemed to be amused by it. He was amused by practically everything that she did. It was annoying her.

"May I ask what your mother does for a living?"

"No." Cassie tossed him a warning glance.

It had been obvious that he was trying to get her to snap. He _wanted_ Ace to know they had problems. She could tell that he was concocting something in that cunning mind of his.

"I'm leaving," Cassie declared. "Thank you for the meal. I'll be on the ship you can stay Ace."

The two men watched Cassie as she walked out of the restaurant. Aster grinned but Ace's smile slipped from his face. He was not stupid. He knew exactly what Aster was doing. He was trying to seduce Cassie, but thankfully she wasn't interested.

"Aster, stop," Ace said. He watched as the man's attention turned back to him. Innocent mocha eyes looked at him making it seem almost impossible that he would do something. That was all part of his act.

"Stop what?" he asked innocently. The man was going to make it impossible.

"Trying to seduce Cassie," he stated. He watched the clueless act drop and be replaced with a smirk.

"So you caught on?" he asked. His eyes held amusement in their depths. "Here I thought you were still the innocent little boy."

"You're the one who encouraged me to get rid of that." Ace crossed his arms and looked at him. "Back off."

"I don't wanna," Aster whined. "You don't have to let me keep her or anything like that. I could train her for you. Make sure she could do everything you like."

"Don't you dare talk about her like some animal!" Ace yelled. He groaned realizing that he drew the attention of the people around him.

"Oh, so she can make you so emotional and lose your cool." Aster's smirk never left his face. "That makes her interesting. Considering at one point you were quite the little bed warmer. I wonder how she would react to that."

"She wouldn't," Ace said. "When she gets mad she gets all silent. Also she tends to shoot the messenger, quite literally too."

Aster's eyes narrowed at that statement. He believed Ace's looming threat. Cassie had a gun and she had never bothered to use it on him. He could imagine the harsh look her eyes would have as she would pull the trigger. For some reason it wasn't a complete turn off to know that she was a powerful female.

"Somehow I'm not completely against that," Aster said. "Besides I bet if she met me first she would go for me."

"Nah there happens to be a redheaded man that would get in your way," Ace stated. "Actually he'd try to kill you. He might even be successful. Watch yourself Aster."

With that Ace got up and left. He would need to take a walk in the cool air before going back to the ship.

OO00OO

Cassie groaned as she pulled off her boots and undid her corset. Her life was oh so stressful. She hoped that Aster hadn't told Ace they had met before. That would surely upset him and make things more complicated.

But why hadn't Ace noticed how Aster was looking at her. He should have noticed right? Did he not care? No that couldn't be it. He said he did. Wait?

"That's right," Cassie said out loud. "He's an adorably oblivious man when it comes to love."

She practically threw herself onto the bed. Her face was planted in a pillow when she took a breath in. It smelled entirely like Ace. She groaned at the perverted thoughts that raced through her mind and an urge struck her nether regions.

She experimentally slid her hand up to her chest and massaged one of her breasts a little upset that it did nothing to quell the urge. Cassie bit her lip before slowly trailing her hand down to her shorts. She undid them with little grace and slid them off.

She let her hand glide under her panties and instantly felt the heat down there. She tried to mimic how Ace had touched her. She first rubbed at where she thought her tight bundle of nerves were and felt a shudder when she found it. In her mind her hand was no longer her own, it was Ace's. Before she knew it she was plunging her fingers in and out of herself.

By the time she finished she was panting and her underwear was soaked. She groaned something had to be wrong with her. She shouldn't be lusting after him this intensely. She couldn't sleep like this.

She got up from the bed and peeled them off before she heard the familiar laugh of Ace down the hallway. She quickly opened the small window in the room tossing her underwear out of it and pulled on her shorts.

Ace opened the door not even a second later and gave her a suspicious look. Her face was flushed and she was panting. He kept the dirty thoughts from entering his mind and examined her.

"What were you doing?" He asked.

"Um… Pushups?" Cassie answered. She let a smile come across her face, however, Ace knew that it was a nervous smile.

"I don't know I was asking you," Ace stated. He pulled of his shoes and sat on the bed. He looked up at her. "Stay away from Aster."

Cassie was stunned before a pleased look came across her face. He had noticed. He was just too nice of a person to bring it up in her presence.

"Of course whatever you want," Cassie said. She faked a yawn and plopped herself on the bed. "I sure am tired. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Ace leaning down and planting a kiss on her temple. "I love you."

"I love you too."

OO00OO

"You know where to find me if you need me." Aster watched the girl—he couldn't remember her name—walk away from him. He sent her a smirk as she left.

To say he was frustrated right now was an understatement. Ace and Cassie separate they were fine, but together they disgusted him. He just happened to meet that girl when he couldn't stand it any longer. Having sex with women was a good way to take out his anger. He had accidentally picked that habit up from somewhere.

He wanted to mess with them so much. The only question was how he could do it. He saw a flash of blonde up the stairs of the small rented house.

"Holly," he called going up the stairs. He saw the girl wait for him. "We need to talk."

"Not in the mood today," Holly replied. He chuckled at her.

"That's not exactly what I had in mind." He made a gesture for her to follow him and she did.

Soon they were in his room. Instead of sitting on the bed, he stood against the door. Holly instantly froze.

He had a serious look on his face. Rarely did her captain ever have this look. He was frivolous at almost all times. His brown eyes held a certain darkness she wasn't used to saying. It was attractive, but slightly scary.

"I want to make a deal with you," he stated. Holly raised an eyebrow. "Two people have what we want. We just need to separate them to get it. Are you willing to do it?"

"Wait, you're talking about Cassie and Ace, right?" Holly asked. She shook her head. "You're interested in that little brat? Why?"

"She's strong," he replied. It was shocking how far off his voice sounded to her; it almost held no emotion. "She reminds me of someone from my past, but that was only the initial attraction. It seems I want her more and more, whether it is to break her or not to break her I can no longer say. I just want her."

"I want to know the plan before I accept," she responded after a few moments of silence. "I want Ace more than anything you know that, but I by no means want damaged goods. He has to be in a position to want me."

"I knew you would say that," he replied with a half smile. "I want you to seduce Ace and I will make sure Cassie sees it. She gets jealous easily so it won't take much. More than likely I will be able to take advantage of that with her. From the shock of her betrayal Ace will be searching for a connection to help him heal. From that point on it is up to you. This plan relies on your will to love him. Can you handle it?"

"Don't ask questions with obvious answers." And with that Holly left Aster.

OO00OO

_**IMPORTANT: **_**I have recently started writing for various other sites under the same penname so I have been very busy. This was updated a little later than what I would have liked. I had about half of the chapter done for probably the last two weeks, but couldn't post it because it wasn't at its normal length. I would like to know if people would be okay with maybe half the usual length of the chapters so I can update faster. Please let me know.**

**Thank you to**

**Lady Syndra**

**Shiningheart of ThunderClan**

**Girls-luv-manga**

**RedneckChick**

**For your reviews and I love you. I appreciated the support and am sorry for the late update.**

**Leave me a review and I will love you too!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Gosh I'm updating this so late. My life got chaotic with papers and preparing to take my ACT (test to prepare for college in case you're from a different country). I'm writing this note even though I don't know when I'll be posting this since I'm studying for my AP American History class. American history is painful and I wish I could avoid it, and most politics. Thank goodness I don't want to be a lawyer or politician. I'm also preparing for Showcase which is a musical-glee-like-thingy and my swing dancing recital. Please enjoy reading this because I will most likely be gone for a while. :(**

**Warnings: I can't even list them all. Just beware that it was rated M for a reason.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

**Chapter 12**

Cassie was spending another day in the library. It would normally be rather boring and ordinary, but a certain annoyance had chosen to show up. Sitting across from her grinning like a madman was Aster. Sure he was handsome enough to look at, but Cassie couldn't care less. He wasn't Ace.

"It's cute how you think you can ignore me," Aster taunted. He kept the frown from his face when she simply turned a page in a book. "Ignoring me will get you nowhere. _Princess_…"

She abruptly snapped her book shut and set it down on the table and grabbed another book. She was completely ignoring him. She made no move to even acknowledge him. Even though he could tell she wanted to say something about that word.

"Do you want to know why I hate it when people call me Princess?" Cassie asked surprisingly calm.

"Please enlighten me," Aster said. He smirked inwardly at his victory, but stopped instantly.

Her expression turned from calm into one that shocked him. He hadn't seen such a pained expression in a long time. The last time he saw that the woman who had been like a mother left him. They looked so alike it was painful. The way Cassie's round eyes had tears threatening to fall was such a struck such a familiar feeling, it hurt him to think about it. He wanted to yell at her to stop.

"Someone close to me used to call me that," Cassie replied. "A few people still do, but most avoid it. There are probably about four people who get away with it regularly. The one who refused to refer to me as anything else was executed. She was one of the few people I could trust and the only true friend I had growing up. I prefer not to think about that time in my life. My actions caused her death. Please understand that and do not refer to me as Princess anymore."

"What makes you think I would respect your wish?" Aster asked. He had an amused look on his face. He was putting up a front to try and not seem so interested in it.

"You have to be more fucked up than I am to act like you do," Cassie answered bluntly. "If you get rid of all your emotions by having sex I have come to a few conclusions about how this is possible. One, you were jilted by someone you loved. Two, you're actually a raging homosexual and covering it up. Three, you have abandonment issues with someone, like perhaps your mom."

Aster let a dark smirk come over his face at her conclusion. She watched him with narrowed chocolate eyes, but he was unaffected.

"You're completely wrong," he stated. "I think it would be a crime not to share myself with the world. Most women come crawling into my bed once they realize who I am. Try it just once my darling and you won't regret it."

Cassie shook her head at him and turned her attention to her book. Her face had a look of indifference now.

"You never wondered what sex feels like? I find it hard to believe," Aster muttered. Cassie scoffed at him and sent him a look that said everything. "So Ace had you? That's surprising that he would touch something so innocent."

"You're completely dense." Cassie stood up from her chair and began walking out. Not surprisingly Aster was right behind her.

"How am I dense?" Aster asked. He was surprised that Cassie stopped completely and looked at him.

"My relationship with Ace is a bunch of things that should have never happened." She began walking with her back to him. "He decided one day to take care of me even though I put those who he dedicated himself to in danger. That was the same day I decided that I wanted to actually talk to someone. That opened up more things than you could possibly hope to comprehend. We are allowed to do things with each other that we can't do with anyone else. I bet you have never seen Ace selfish, but I have. Together we're both completely out of character."

He watched her walk. For once his eyes weren't drifting up and down her body, but they looked at her posture. She gave off a dignified air that he wasn't used to seeing. He could only remember seeing them in very few pirates and fewer of those were women. He could really only think of one.

"Do you want to know?" he asked. She gave him a look with her eyebrow raised in doubt. "You have to be curious. You wouldn't have asked me if you weren't."

"If you want to go ahead," Cassie huffed. "Just realize I don't want to be around you."

"You were right my mom left me." He saw her back tense and knew she was listening. "I joined a pirate crew soon after she left me by myself. I found a new woman to love as my mother. However, as both of us got older it wasn't the love between a parent and child. At least it wasn't for me. She got knocked up and left me all alone."

He watched in shock as Cassie turned and looked at him. The way her brown eyes pierced his eyes was amazing. He could feel everything she was saying. She didn't have to speak out loud. She said she was sorry to hear that and then she was asking the question why. She wanted to know why he told her his story.

"I trust you," he stated. She scoffed before walking towards him her eyes never leaving his. "Call me crazy, but I feel like you and I are alike. I'm guessing you're quite rebellious. I was like that at your age. You could grow up to be just like me."

"I don't think that's possible considering I don't have a dick to think with," Cassie replied. "Leave me alone I want to get ice-cream and actually enjoy it."

Aster held back his smirk as he followed her. People really didn't give Holly enough credit. Was Cassie a predictable glutton or was Holly watching her that closely? He might never know. He watched as Cassie rounded the corner and abruptly froze. He peered over at her letting his signature smirk cross over his face.

How Holly had managed this compromising position he would never know. All he knew was that her lips were locked with Ace's and her leg was thrown over his hips bringing their bodies impossibly close. It would fool anyone. He even wondered for a second if it was an act or if they were actually kissing.

His eyes widened as Cassie bolted away almost too fast for him to see. He was expecting her to make a bigger deal or pull Holly away from him, but she ran. He vaguely wondered if she was really as smart as she thought she was.

OO00OO

Ace pulled away from Holly looking deep into her eyes. They were full of need something he once would have been happy to fulfill for her, but he wasn't capable of that anymore.

"Why are you doing this Holly?" he asked. Her eyes never left his and she made no move to detach herself from him.

"You know I love you," she whispered hoarsely. "I love you more than she ever could and I hate her. She doesn't deserve you."

"You can't say that without knowing her," Ace stated. "Do you need to use seduction to get someone to love you? If you have to resort to that I'm sorry."

"Ace!" she protested. "That selfish little brat doesn't deserve you at all! You don't match each other."

"Do you deserve me?" The way he narrowed his eyes at her shocked her. He was angry and that was a rare occurrence.

"I'd do anything for you simply because you are Ace." Ace removed her from him completely and stepped back looking at her. "I'd die for you."

She watched as his eyes filled with sympathy for her. That made her feel so angry she couldn't describe the feeling.

"I'd hate that you know," Ace said. "I think I couldn't stand the guilt of being the reason for your death. You didn't think of that, right? You thought of yourself and how that would feel to have lost me. You never stopped to think about me. Cassie stops to think about me even if she can be a bit stubborn."

"You can't do this to me," Holly suddenly shouted. Ace pulled away from her.

"Holly you have always been someone close to me," he explained. "At one point in time you might have been the second closest person to me, but you aren't that person anymore. I'm not the person I was the last time I saw you. Both of us have changed drastically."

"Oh do you want to go back to the time when all we did was fuck!" she yelled. I can promise we can do that if you want. Oh wait you have a little bitch trailing behind you lost and confused."

"Don't insult Cassie. she has nothing to do with us. The only thing that matters right now I what we feel for each other. I can guarantee you that neither of us loves each other."

"You can't tell me what I feel!"

"Then I can tell you how I feel," Ace interjected sternly. "I don't love you and I never will. I can't say I'm sorry for what I feel. You're stronger than this. The Holly I know would never let this stop her. She'd walk away with her head held high."

"You're right," she said with a bitter laugh. "We have both changed a lot."

Ace watched her slumped form walk away with her head down, but he still had an off feeling. Something wasn't right.

OO00OO

By the time Aster finally found Cassie it was night time and he was stunned. He had walked into the heat of a raging bar fight. At the center of it was Cassie. She was standing on the table flushed from being intoxicated and screaming at the top of her lungs. She wasn't saying anything coherent, but it didn't really matter. The girl was practically punching anyone and everything she wanted.

People were charging at her and she seemed to be releasing a great amount of anger on them. It was sheer chaos with everyone throwing punches everywhere. Aster took a deep breath.

"Cassondra Hart, stop this nonsense right now!" he yelled. Everyone stopped and looked at him.

Cassie just hiccupped and decided to lunge at him. He very easily caught her in her drunken state and slung her over his shoulder. She screamed and pounded on his back. Then she stopped and he was about to address her, but a retching noise and a hot liquid dripping down his back stopped him.

He contained his anger and kept from hurling her in a random direction. He opted to turn and walk out of the bar with his dignity. He could hear her snoring now. She was calm and completely defenseless.

"Oh, I'll give it to you good," he said to himself.

OO00OO

"Thatch, have you seen Cassie?" Ace asked as he walked up onto the deck of the ship.

"No I thought she was with you," Thatch stated. "She usually is anyway unless she's at the library."

"She wasn't there when I went to pick her up," Ace stated. "She also wasn't near the ice-cream shop. I wonder if she's thinking again."

"She disappears when she wants to think?" Thatch asked. "I never would have expected that. She's been alone for most of her life you would think would want some company now."

"Well, Cassie really just does what she wants to," Ace stated. "For all we know she could be voiding me because I did something."

"The question is did you do something that could have made her mad enough to run away?" Ace sighed and thatch watched him with interest.

"Do you remember Holly?"

"It's hard to forget a girl like her. She's the busty blonde right?"

"Yeah," Ace responded raking a hand through his black hair. "She decided to tell me she loved me today. She kind of forced herself on me, but I turned her down."

"Well, it's obvious that you did the right thing," the older man replied. "Were you planning on telling her anytime soon?" Ace let out a chuckle.

"Not really Cassie tends to be rash when she's mad," Ace said. "I was planning on telling her when we get off this island. She gave you the coordinates for the tomb so all that's left to do is to go and dig it up. We can leave soon."

"I'm going to tell you something about women," his friend replied. "You honestly can keep no secrets from them. You should just give up on it now. I'd tell her the next time you see her."

"It's just that I don't want to assume things. She has a lot of things running through her mind. She could be worry about Alayna or Jack, or maybe even thinking about Claire or her father. I'm sure the prince's death is still lingering around in her head."

"I'm going to tell you something and I want you to remember it for the rest of your life," Thatch informed. "It only takes one mistake to ruin everything. Everyone has weak points and if you accidentally tread on those weak points they'll never be able to look at you the same way again."

Ace watched as Thatch walked away. He was still debating inside his head what to do. He had never wanted to be so careful with anyone before.

OO00OO

Aster walked into the hotel he was staying at with a few officers of his crew. Standing there was Holly and she instantly noticed what he was caring.

"Did you knock her out?" she asked. "I mean I know you were desperate, but isn't that a little too far?"

"I did no such thing," Aster stated. He sighed and let a smirk cross her face. "The poor thing drunk herself into unconsciousness. She witnessed her fiancé kissing another woman. How did that go by the way?"

Holly had a pained look on her face as she just shook her head. Aster noticed but ignored it.

"You're having second thoughts aren't you?" Aster stated. He walked closer to her and looked at her. "You couldn't convince him to betray Cassie, but she's about to betray him. That changes the whole situation. Your chance isn't over even if he did reject you."

He didn't wait for a response as he went up the stairs and navigated the hallway to his room. He had never been so happy to see it. He immediately tossed Cassie on the bed and took off his shirt and pants. He couldn't stand the smell any longer. Seriously he strongly believes that if someone can't hold their alcohol they have no business drinking it.

He walked over to a lamp and turned it on so there was a dim light in the room. He wanted to enjoy this thoroughly. He wanted to enjoy this sleeping little princess as much as possible. She may not be fully conscious, but he was positive he could make her remember his every touch.

He sat down on the bed and carefully ran a hand through her hair. He brushed it back noticing the mark that was still there. He bent over and bit at it leaving a new much darker mark over it. He smiled as he saw her squirm a little as he traced it with his tongue.

He swung his legs over her so that he was straddling her. Seeing her chest heaving up and down in her sleep wasn't helping his desire. He loosened the black corset top and watched it fall off her. He chose to move on to the main course after that.

He slid down her body until he came to her legs. He slowly ran a hand up one and felt her body shiver at his touch. He dragged it down and lethargically pulled off her boots. He massaged her legs up to her shorts and relished in a light groan that came from her.

He unbuttoned the tiny black shorts that had been taunting him since he met her. He took them off and saw lacy green panties. He could only assume they would match her bra which he would get to in a minute.

He pulled them off and separated her legs. He was surprised when she didn't seem excited at all for him. He took a finger and slowly rubbed it up her folds being careful to catch her clit. He felt her hips buck a little. He slowly began to draw circles on her precious pearl as he slipped a finger into her hole.

He hissed at his tightness. He had virgins before and yet she wasn't one. She was tighter than he could have imagined and she seemed to be sucking him in. He increased his pace and noticed how her body was heating up and how she was starting to get wet for him.

He kept going as he reached his other hand up to remove her shirt quickly. She was convulsing around his fingers and was just out bout to release.

"Ace…" she whimpered. He stopped and looked up at her face.

She was making a pained expression and tears were streaming down her cheeks. He felt bad for being so impatient. She was still thinking of another while he was doing this to her. He reached up and brushed the tears out of her eyes. He removed his fingers from inside of her and took her shirt off.

The bra would have matched the panties, but his eyes were focused on something else. Her necklace was unmistakable. He backed away from her as if touching her had burned him.

Everything made sense now.

OO00OO

**Oh gosh it has been way to long and I don't know if I can ever apologize for how long this update took. I'm thankfully done with most of the things up above, but I still have my swing dancing recital (we're awesome by the way) and a paper for Ap American history (even though we took that god-awful test) and a comprehensive verb test where I can't move onto Spanish five if I don't get an A or higher, and finals are right around the corner. My birthday was two days ago and yeah I'm now technically old enough to be writing smut fanfiction for most sites.**

**Thank you to all of my reviewers who I would love to list but don't have time to. I still love all of you. I should be back sometime in mid June or you know sooner if I stop being so freakishly busy. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Well I'm going to be honest and say that I'm done with this story and more than likely all anime related stories. I look at this and think that I am simply not satisfied enough with this. I see Cassie as an unrealistic character that I love, but don't want to write about. I wonder how people put up with reading about her now. The story doesn't follow the rules of One Piece and I don't have the necessary knowledge to make it so it does. I apologize to all of the people who actually know the plot of One Piece. However, I don't just want to end it without telling you how the story would have continued because that's just mean.**

**For the Island Arc**

Cassie runs away from Aster in the morning after Ace catches them in bed thanks to Holly

Ace confronts Aster and fights him until Aster admits that they did not sleep together. He then turns to Holly and says that he can no longer respect her or Aster

Cassie runs to the library and asks the librarian where she can find a book on seduction

She returns to the ship to find Ace and they have a heart to heart about how they feel about others. Then Cassie seduces him where she gets to be on top, when he thought she shouldn't

The crew then comes back after finding the treasure and they celebrate with a party

Aster shows up and talks to Ace. He returns the medallion that he intended to keep after Cassie left. He then tells him that if he thinks Cassie can be rude than he'll be shocked by her mother.

**New beginnings Arc**

It starts off with Cassie in a room on the ship with newspaper clippings scattered around the room as she searches for her mother. Ace comforts her and then there's a lemon that results in an unhappy Marco.

When Thatch's death happens Ace leaves the crew. Cassie against his wishes follows him and says that she would never dream of leaving him alone at this time. He reluctantly agrees to let her travel with him.

The next time they are seen is when Ace reunites with Luffy. She ends up propelling herself onto Luffy's ship with her devil fruit. She no longer uses her gun because she left it on the island with her past self.

She lands on the deck looking a little older and more mature. Ace catches Zoro's eyes on her and then begins to lecture her on her choice of clothing. The two of them fight back and forth about how the other seems like they're trying to attract the opposite sex until Luffy stops and asks who that person is. Cassie introduces herself as Ace's fiancé and Luffy as Ace's brother. She takes one look at him and says they're nothing alike

After the two leave Luffy's ship Ace asks her what she would do if he left her by herself. She says she would continue to do what was best for him even if it hurts her and him. he agrees completely with that statement.

They run into Luffy at the desert and Cassie meets a fellow princess. She introduces herself as the princess of ruby island shocking everybody, but Ace just chuckles lightly at that knowing Cassie was just trying to make sure the princess stayed away from him.

Ace is constantly trying to leave Cassie behind, but finally succeeds after they make passionate love to each other and he leaves before she wakes up. He leaves her with a note saying how he will always love and want the best for her. He reminds them of their first night together and how she said she never wanted him to die for her. Now he is doing this for her own safety so she will never have to die for him.

**Past Meets Present Arc**

Cassie being her normal self chooses to solve it with drinking and gets into a bar fight with Shanks who tapped her on the shoulder thinking she was a member of his crew. He easily subdues her and carries her back to his ship. She pukes down his back before he can reach it though.

Cassie wakes up to find her mother sitting in a chair looking rather irritable about her being there.

When asked her mom begins to tell the story of her and her father. Unlike how she had always thought it was a love story it wasn't. She finds out her father was more so tricked into both sleeping with her mother and taking care of her. He only did so because of the threats made to him

She begins to travel with Shanks and his crew after telling both her mother and Shanks about Ace. She seems to be getting stronger due to her separation from Ace, but never tries to build a relationship with her mother.

Shanks confronts Cassie's mother about her and the woman says she never wanted this life for her. She had tricked a king into taking her just so she could have the chance of living a happy life and never meeting pirates. She hates that her daughter now has to go through a heartbreak because of some stupid man. Shanks laughs and says "all pirates are stupid at some point even you."

Cassie begins to slowly open up to the crew after engaging in a battle with an opposing pirate crew and doing heavy damage to them.

Shanks and his crew hear about Ace being captured by the navy and steer towards the island. Cassie gets sick while traveling and later finds out that her mother had the same symptoms as her when she was pregnant. Her mom then tries to stall her as much as possible from engaging in the fight with the navy

By the time Cassie reaches the site of the fight she discovers that Ace is dead. She meets Luffy again who refuses to look at her thinking it was his fault and not knowing what to say to her. She wordlessly walks up to him and hugs him. It seems the two share all of their anguish with each other at that moment. She then tells him that Ace will always be proud of him no matter what and he tells her that Ace will always love her.

**Epilogue: skips ten years into the future**

It starts with Cassie telling her son Ace about his father and how brave he was. It seems like she is exaggerating every detail to the boy, but she claims all of it is true. The boy seems jealous of how Cassie keeps complimenting her late fiancé and says that he is more handsome. She tells her son he may be some day, but he has a ways to go

Her son then tells her about the letter he received from his pen pal. Cassie smiles knowingly because his pen pal is actually his Uncle Jack who writes him monthly. Cassie tells him about her letter from his aunt and says they might go visit them some day

Luffy then arrives smiling as the boy runs up to him calling him Uncle. The two play around before little Ace falls asleep and is tucked into bed

Cassie and Luffy then talk about how she is doing. She says that the only way she could be happier is if Ace was there with her. She seems to hold no regrets about her life and has a healthy physique. Luffy leaves with a goodbye and promises to return within the year to visit again

Cassie then walks out of the house and around the island. The story ends with her smiling at Ace's grave and telling him everything that happened that day.

**I know it's obviously not as satisfying as the real story, but I thought you guys would at least appreciate me putting my pre-writing up. I know it's an abrupt ending, but I don't want to write something that I can't be proud of. I hope you can understand me.  
**

**Thank you for reading this story!**


End file.
